Pleasures Of Art
by Lady Nogitsune
Summary: What if Lelouch had returned to Britannia after the invasion of Japan? The answer is simple and involves chess, less than sane family members and the unconventional use of art supplies. Yaoi. ClovisxLelouch, LelouchxSuzaku.
1. Pleasures of Art

Ah, finally. I wanted to post this here for a long time now, but somehow, I never really got around to it. The first six chapters should appear rather quickly, as they have already been written - the only thing I need to do now is make them fit here (mostly layout-wise); however, I'll be busy for about six days after this weekend, which means there will be a pause in the uploading process. If you have encountered this story before, you might know me by the name "Alycra".

I thought about this for a long time, but in the end, I decided to leave the genre at "_general_" for now, as this fic really has a bit of everything. It gets largely humorous during the course of the second chapter, but also has quite a bit of angst and drama hidden underneath, some romance, friendship and family moments to last a decade - heck, there are even some attempts at deeper character analysis to be found amongst the apparent randomness. It's not "gen", obviously, but as I see it, picking romance or humour or whatever else from the list just wouldn't fit. Maybe "Drama/Humor" would work, but I'm not sure about that yet.

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This piece was originally written for the kink meme, but quickly turned into a multi-chapter fic. It actually has a plot, even though said plot has to stand up to smut, fluff and randomness.  
The kink, as you might or might not already have guessed, was "art supplies".

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**Pairing:** ClovisxLelouch (order actually relative). Also has LelouchxSuzaku, a whiff of SchneizelxClovis and some others.

**Rating: **M

**Summary:** What if Lelouch had returned to Britannia after the invasion of Japan? The answer is simple, and it involves chess, less than sane family members and the unconventional use of art supplies. Next time, maybe Lelouch will think twice about heightening the stakes.  
Then again, maybe not.

**Warnings:** Besides M/M smut, incest and the unconventional use of art supplies? Semi-con (or something like that) and randomness, I guess; the former probably just applying to the first chapter. Also, a plot that may be a bit shy in the beginning - don't startle it!

**Note:** Apparently, the site ate pretty much all the section breaks in this story. Should have fixed this, but, uh... if something seems off, that might be why.

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**Pleasures of Art  
- Chapter 1**

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Lelouch couldn't believe he had actually lost.

Granted, there were the circumstances to consider: it had been a match originally started years ago, one that he had discarded from his mind as soon as it had been interrupted half-way through, and he supposed things had indeed not been going in his favor at the time. However, at the end of the day, that really shouldn't have mattered.

Lelouch had a quick mind – it had not taken him long to recall every little detail from back then, and he should have been skilled enough to eventually make the tides turn, no matter how bad it might have looked for him that day more than seven years ago. He had, after all, gotten much better since then, and even if that hadn't been the case... he had never lost against Clovis.

_Never_.

There were some things there simply shouldn't be a first time for.

.

But to his great misfortune, neither whatever accursed higher powers found pleasure in watching him suffer nor his obnoxious older half-brother seemed to care about his opinion on the matter, and so Lelouch could only try to grasp the absurdness of the situation as Clovis pushed him down onto the mattress and gave him that small, unmistakable smile of his – the one that only replaced his overly charming demeanor on special occasions and never failed to make anyone with more of a temper than Schneizel _–_ namely, every person in the entire Empire other than the epitome of calmness and reason himself _- _want to sink their fist into that infuriating pretty face of his.

It was typically Lelouch who found himself with that barely containable urge long before anyone else, and it was also Lelouch who was always the first to realize that giving in to it, tempting as it may be, was not an option. Not because he was so good at keeping his temper in check or, even more ridiculously, because he thought that violence could never serve as a solution for one's problems (violence might not be the cure for all diseases, but it definitely _had_ solved many issues in human history in favor of the ones using it, and anyone who claimed otherwise was either lying or a fool), but because it would simply not be logical. Clovis may not exactly have been an athlete, but Lelouch was probably the one person whose physical capabilities he surpassed by far. Thus, attempting to punch his brother would have stayed exactly that – an attempt, and a rather pathetic one at that.

So as usually, Lelouch smothered the urge to make a fool of himself, and even though he didn't find a crushing verbal retort to make up for his severe lack of muscular strength this time, the sudden need to hit something had at least snapped him out of his mental stupor.

As a slightly more promising alternative to the reckless use of violence, Lelouch gave his brother a rude shove and tried to sit up - in vain, as it turned out.

Instead of backing down, as Lelouch had hoped, but admittedly not really expected, Clovis didn't even do so much as blink before he simply grabbed his younger brother's arms. For a moment Lelouch thought he would put them behind his head to keep him in place, in which case he would have found himself in an even worse position, one far too _defenseless_ for his taste, but Clovis merely placed them to either of his sides and then leaned over him again _-_ entirely unbothered by his resistance, it seemed. Not that that did much to improve Lelouch's mood.

He glared at his brother.

Clovis only smiled. "Now, dear little brother, you really shouldn't offer things you are not willing to give. It's not very sportsmanlike. Then again... sports never really were your thing, were they?"

Lelouch made another attempt to free himself – he never even expected it to be more successful than the first one, but he felt rage burning inside him at his brother's casual words, and if he couldn't hit him, he at least wanted him to know that he was far from being defeated.

When he finally stopped his useless struggle again, his eyes were all but blazing.

"Ah, don't be that way. It's not my fault you set the stakes too high this time." Lelouch's gaze only darkened, and Clovis smiled. He let one of his brother's arms go in order to touch a strand of his hair and lightly, as if by mere coincidence and not in a deliberate act of seduction, caressed Lelouch's cheek with the back of his hand while doing so. "Just relax," he said in a voice just as coaxing as his touch. "I promise you will enjoy it."

Lelouch used his free arm to slap the intrusive hand away. "Don't touch me," he said icily.

His brother didn't seem fazed. "So you go back on your word?" he asked in an unconcerned voice. "You lose for once, and suddenly, the deal is off because you were too sure of yourself and are now unwilling to pay the price for your imprudence since you deem it too high? I would say I am disappointed," he continued in the same airy tone, "if I didn't know that you are both too proud and too stubborn to just take the easy way out."

Lelouch's glare didn't lessen, but both he and Clovis knew that his brother was right.

He _wouldn't_ back out of this, regardless of whether he managed to free himself somehow or not, and no matter how much he didn't like where his own arrogance had gotten him. He would simply curse his carelessness and grit his teeth while Clovis had his way with him, and the only thing he hated more at that moment than his own lack of sense was his brother – mainly because he couldn't deny that this was indeed his own fault.

Ever since Lelouch had returned from Japan almost seven years ago, it hadn't been a rare occurrence that there was something at stake when they played one of their usual matches. It had started out harmless enough, with money on Clovis' part and an agreement from Lelouch not to call his brother an idiot or anything else that implied a lack of intelligence for a whole month in the unlikely case that he lost. It had then evolved into making Clovis aid him in his plans for revenge for his dead mother and crippled sister without openly telling him so, and Lelouch being forced to proclaim what a great, admirable older brother he had and how he had always _looked up to him_ should the other prince ever mange to get the better of him.

Since Lelouch didn't have as many resources at his disposal as most of his siblings ever since he had narrowly avoided being officially disinherited, and seeing how the only thing Clovis had ever managed to achieve against him on the chess board for the longest time had been a single stalemate right after after his return from Japan all those years ago, it had been a very useful arrangement – for Lelouch, in any case. He didn't know why Clovis had gone along with it. Maybe his brother was a masochist as well as a sadistic bastard, or maybe he had really just been patiently waiting for a chance to get back at him this whole time. With Clovis, you never knew - he rarely made sense.

But regardless of what his brother's reasons were, it had been a favorable agreement... until this afternoon, when Lelouch had decided to raise the stakes considerably by trying to make Clovis become the new governor of Area 11 and take Lelouch along with him to secretly pull the strings.

Apparently, their _father_ wanted to keep an eye on him – he had graciously allowed Lelouch to even take his sister with him should he ever want to move to one of Britannia's many territories outside of their home country, but only on the condition that he quietly finished school there and left the largest part of the politics to someone else.

Seeing how the vast majority of his siblings really wouldn't appreciate his company, let alone give him any kind of power if they didn't have to, that didn't leave him with too many options.

What he had done had been grasping for straws, really - he never seriously expected Clovis to agree, and he had already been trying to find other ways to get what he wanted; without much success. So when his brother had suggested that they finish a match from long ago, telling him that he merely wanted a prize of equal worth should he manage to beat him against all odds, Lelouch had been all too ready to let Clovis decide the rest of the terms.

Only once had he taken into account the eventuality of failure and intervened, more out of healthy paranoia than because he had thought of it as a real possibility, and that had been a special case: his brother's first pick had been all of Lelouch's secrets on a silver plate, and that was something Lelouch wasn't willing to give, not even in theory.

He would have agreed anyway if he could have lied should something have gone wrong due to some unknown variable he had failed to consider – proud or not, his priorities had always been clear -, but Clovis was already suspecting something, and Lelouch had no idea how much he really knew. Looking back, he was glad he had at least been careful with this particular issue, because apparently his brother understood enough to be well aware that the only thing Lelouch would protect more fiercely than his secrets was Nunnally, as he had not seemed surprised so much as disappointed when Lelouch declined.

And he hadn't even needed five seconds to come up with something else.

"One night," he had said in his usual flippant manner. "If I win, I want one night to do with you as I please."

Lelouch hadn't managed to refrain from staring at his obviously mental older brother in sheer disbelief, but he had caught himself quickly enough and accepted with condescending words and a casual shrug of his shoulders.

He would never have guessed it would turn out to be the miscalculation of his life.

It wasn't that Lelouch hadn't known what his brother meant. He might indeed be pretty oblivious to those kinds of things, as certain people never ceased to point out, but that was because he usually had other things on his mind - he was certainly not thick, and there _had_ been some touching before that. Not that Lelouch would ever have let Clovis cross a certain line, but that probably was part of what had gotten him into this situation in the first place.

His brother had never seemed overly put off by how easily Lelouch changed his mind for no specific reason other than to annoy him – in fact, Clovis had seemed pretty amused by it most of the time -, but apparently, even with the Royal Family's most eccentric artist, you could only push so far before something snapped.

In the end, it was because Lelouch had never considered the option that he might _not_ win that he now had no other choice but to submit to whatever his brother had planned.

That, however, didn't mean he had to do it quietly.

"Just shut up and get it over with. You might not have anything better to do, but I would appreciate it if you didn't waste my time."

"You know, sometimes I wonder if you left your manners in Japan that year. But since you seem to be so eager..." Clovis casually slid a hand under Lelouch's shirt to caress his chest, and Lelouch couldn't suppress a shudder at the cool touch. When his brother proceeded to slowly push the black cloth upwards, he tensed.

"Relax," Clovis said and gently moved his fingertips down Lelouch's sides. "I won't do anything I know you won't find enjoyable."

His brother continued to touch him – his stomach, his sides, his shoulders -, but apparently, he had been serious about wanting Lelouch to be more at ease, because he didn't start pulling off the shirt again for quite some time. Instead, he soon focused on Lelouch's nipples, which were still half-hidden below the dark fabric. He stroked and pinched them lightly, all the while smiling slyly and never taking his eyes off his younger brother's face, and even though Lelouch tried his best to glare at him, he had to admit that it became harder with every second that passed.

He was so busy concentrating on not letting anything other than anger show on his face that he didn't notice what Clovis was doing with his other hand until he felt it slip into his pants and stroke his left hip. It grazed his thigh and finally came to rest on a spot where only the thin fabric of Lelouch's underwear separated it from his more precious parts.

Lelouch had barely grasped the implications of that when the hand suddenly closed around his balls and started massaging them through the soft texture. For a moment, he completely forgot about glaring as he let out a sound somewhere between a surprised gasp and a muffled moan.

"I knew you would come to see things my way eventually," Clovis said, his tone colored with amusement. He also sounded like a cat that had just discovered where its owner had hidden the canary and knew exactly how to get there.

x x x

Without giving his brother time to recover, Clovis slid his hand into Lelouch's underwear and once more encircled his genitals before squeezing lightly. This time, it was definitely a moan that escaped his brother's lips.

It wasn't very hard to convince Lelouch to give up his shirt from there on, nor did he protest much when Clovis pulled down his trousers and underwear – in fact, he seemed to have lost most of his composure for the moment, and Clovis shamelessly took advantage of that. He made sure to get his brother into a properly aroused state before changing tactics and making his touches as light as those of a feather, and he enjoyed himself immensely watching Lelouch writhe beneath him, desperately trying to retain some semblance of self-control.

He was remarkably successful, though.

Hardly a sound left his brother's mouth, and although he obviously had some trouble keeping still, he never forgot to shoot Clovis a dark look from time to time. Despite the state he currently was in, it was a most impressive dark look.

Clovis had no doubt that Lelouch was capable of exceptional restraint, and that if he really wanted to, he could deny himself any pleasure he derived from his touches in favor of simply looking at him in contempt for the rest of the night.

That, however, was exactly what Clovis counted on.

Despite the undeniable delight he took in tormenting his younger brother, he had no intention of overstepping certain boundaries. For one, it would not do him well to have Lelouch holding a personal vendetta against him – it was bad enough that he would probably be in one of his foul moods for the next few weeks -; and even if he had been suicidal enough not to care about that, he still wouldn't want to hurt Lelouch's pride.

Well, or maybe he wanted to, if he was completely honest with himself, and he supposed that was exactly what he was doing right now, but there was a clear distinction to draw between landing a fairly harmless blow on his brother's over-sized ego and trying to do some serious damage.

He wouldn't have backed Lelouch into a corner and then practically jumped him if he hadn't been sure that he would be able to tell the difference between spending some unconventional quality time with his brother and actually harming him, and if one knew Lelouch well enough, the line in-between really wasn't a fine one and indeed pretty hard to miss.

As long as his brother shot him angry glares now and then, everything was fine. Should the glares turn into a murderous stare at some point, however, he might want to reconsider, and in case that his brother showed any kind of negative reaction Clovis hadn't anticipated, it would be high time for him to back down.

For now, though...

Clovis ran his hand up Lelouch's inner thighs and smiled.

For now, he would enjoy himself. He deserved it, considering there would be hell to pay afterwards – his brother would hold this against him for at least the next several months, and Lelouch with a grudge was never a good thing. If he would have to live with the consequences of his actions, Clovis wanted to at least be able to look back at them and have no doubt whatsoever that it had been worth it.

Lelouch jerked his hips slightly when Clovis' hand finally reached its destination and started stroking it lightly, and Clovis decided that the point where he wouldn't have any regrets might already have been reached. He became even surer of the accuracy of this estimation when his brother moaned quietly and pressed himself against him.

Until that moment, Lelouch's glares had only slowly been growing weaker; now they disappeared completely for an instant when Clovis squeezed slightly and Lelouch closed his eyes with an unmistakable sound of pleasure.

"I take it you are having fun?" Clovis asked amusedly and began massaging his brother's testicles again.

Lelouch opened his eyes, and even though they were still slightly hazy, the dark look had returned to them. "I will pay you back for this, Clovis," he promised him, his voice surprisingly even.

Clovis smiled. "Only one more reason for me to enjoy myself while I still can."

x x x

That damn infuriating smile of his still in place, Clovis once again bent over him.

While he put one hand on the mattress to support himself, the other continued to play with Lelouch's balls, its movements growing faster and more forceful by every second, until Lelouch gave up on his hard-regained self-control once more and succumbed to the pleasure. He jerked his lower body upwards and groaned audibly when he was rewarded by an even firmer touch between his legs.

"Turn around."

Lelouch, slightly dazed from his aroused state and the skilled fingers still stroking his balls, needed a moment to understand what his brother wanted of him, but not nearly as long to catch the implication behind it. Although he knew he should have expected this, he felt himself tense.

He was angry at himself for letting his guard down, and he couldn't believe he had given in to his brother's coaxing so quickly and entirely that he had forgotten what this would eventually lead to. And even though he had no intention of resisting (he wondered if his pride would be his downfall one day), he found that he really wanted to wake up now and discover that all this had only been a dream – a bizarre nightmare caused by a lack of sleep and an overdose of caffeine.

He had never done this before, and he didn't think he wanted to. Not this, and not when his pride and own foolishness had robbed him of any real choice on the matter.

He felt Clovis' fingers gently trail down his hip.

"I told you, Lelouch. I won't do anything you dislike." His brother lowered his head, and before Lelouch realized what was happening, soft lips slowly pressed down on his own, in a kiss strangely chaste for this kind of situation. "I would tell you to just trust me, but I guess that would be too much to ask. So... humor me?" Clovis' head was tilted to the side playfully, and there was a faint gleam of amusement in his blue eyes when he looked down at him expectantly, in a way disturbingly similar to a puppy waiting for a treat.

Lelouch hesitated, but in the end, he really didn't have a lot of options. So he eventually did as his brother had asked him to, rolling onto his stomach without a word of protest, and tried not to let it show how uncomfortable he was with that position.

It felt open, vulnerable, and that was a feeling Lelouch wasn't exactly accustomed to. He couldn't see what was happening without twisting his head and looking stupid, and even though he knew that technically, the situation was no different from before, it didn't _seem_ that way.

It felt like he was giving up control, and Lelouch hated not being in control.

He tried to appear unconcerned, but he couldn't help the way his shoulders had stiffened, or how his every muscle constantly wanted to tense so that he could impossibly force them all to relax at once. And maybe his brother noticed, because he didn't do anything more than run his hands over his back and lightly caress his sides and shoulders for a very long time. So long that eventually, Lelouch relaxed enough to enjoy the touches, if not the situation, and even felt himself twitch as his member hardened again as soon as Clovis' fingers grazed his rear. He moaned into the pillow when his brother began kneading his buttocks only a heartbeat after that.

For some time, Lelouch managed to keep still and hold on to whatever was left of his ability to reason, but in the long run, he couldn't help squirming slightly and soon discovered that the friction caused by the movement only made things worse.

He gave a muffled groan.

"I see you are enjoying yourself," Clovis commented lightly. "But I am afraid it will be some time before you get your release." He stroked Lelouch's rear. "However, I wanted to try something you might find to your liking. Do you mind?"

It was a pointless question Lelouch didn't bother giving an answer to, and Clovis turned towards the bed table without waiting for one. Apparently he wanted to get something from there, and while he was looking for it, one of his hand remained firmly on Lelouch's rear. When he finally turned back, he immediately proceeded by pulling Lelouch's cheeks apart.

Lelouch couldn't say he was entirely comfortable with the situation, but he was also in no state to complain or even think clearly, and in the end, need and anticipation clearly won over reluctance and wariness.

He felt something touch his anus – something soft, bristly, and he flinched slightly in surprise. But just a second later, the object in question started moving, caressing the sensitive area around his hole, and Lelouch barely stifled a moan. He didn't care what it was that his brother had picked up to torment him with – he just didn't want him to stop.

Luckily, Clovis didn't seem inclined to do that any time soon, and it wasn't long until Lelouch was writhing in sweet agony.

Then the thing between his cheeks finally touched his rectum, and Lelouch didn't bother with restraint anymore - he gasped.

Instead of being pushed in deeper, however, the item went back to merely caressing the outside of his hole right afterwards, and for a short, cruel moment, Lelouch felt like crying.

Apparently, Clovis noticed his disappointment. "Now, now, little brother," he chided mildly. "It would be most crude of me to deflower you in such a manner." Had Lelouch been in a slightly less dire state, he would have made sure his brother never used the word "deflower" in relation to him ever again. The way it was, he could only do his best to keep from screaming in frustration.

His lack of violent reaction didn't escape Clovis - and even though he didn't comment on it, his awareness of Lelouch's silent desperation became all too clear in the way the movements of the object cycling his hole and sliding into it by barely a few millimeters from time to time became definitely teasing, so that it soon proved impossible for Lelouch to keep even remotely still.

Then, suddenly, the object touching his anus was gone, and the hand that had been stretching apart his buttocks until then slid below his belly and moved downwards from there while the other started oh-so-harmlessly stroking his back and rear.

Lelouch lifted his hips almost without thinking, and he didn't bother holding back his moan when he felt his brother firmly grab his balls and hardened member. He slowly started massaging them – enough to torment Lelouch, but not so much that he would have been able to come from it, which would have been difficult to achieve anyway due to the mattress interfering. Lelouch, moaning slightly and burying his head into the pillow, pressed himself deeper into his brother's hand, but only managed to increase his own need for release.

For the first time in his life, Lelouch thought he understood what it meant to experience unbearable pleasure. What he felt was so intense that it was almost painful, like someone had filled a bottle with carbonic acid, sealed it and then given it a throughout shake. And no matter how much he squirmed and moved his hips, he only managed to worsen his situation – until the only thing he knew was that he wouldn't be able to endure this for even a second longer.

"Please..." The word had left his mouth before he had realized he was going to say it, and he needed a moment to comprehend that it was his own voice he was hearing. When he finally did, he couldn't believe how incredibly _pitiful_ it sounded, and he wanted nothing more than to make his brother curse the very day he had been born.

x x x

_"Please..."_ It came out soft, slightly hoarse and muffled by the pillow, and held a note of barely contained desperation.

Clovis looked down at his brother in surprise.

He knew he had been giving Lelouch a hard time, but for his brother to give in like that meant he had already pushed further than he had been planning to – or, to be more precise, would have thought possible. He didn't think he had ever heard Lelouch direct the word "please" at him before, and for him to do so under the current circumstances, when he probably wanted nothing more than to throttle him on the spot, must really mean that he was on edge.

He thought that Lelouch would probably be irresistible being a bit more eager making requests like that, but he also knew that the day someone would get his brother to actually _beg_ would be the day hell froze over and shiny dancing pigs flew through the skies. It was almost a miracle he had gotten this one word out of him, and it probably had been a slip of the tongue that wouldn't happen again any time soon.

Not that it made much of a difference. Because then there always was the tiny little fact that despite Clovis' love for driving his little brother up the wall, he had some serious trouble saying no to him - he just didn't have the heart. And he considered himself lucky that Lelouch had never been civil enough towards him to realize that, as there was no doubt he would have used this information to his advantage.

Clovis tightened his grip on Lelouch's crotch and was rewarded by an audible groan and a jerk of his brother's hips. "Ah, how could I refuse when you are asking so nicely?", he commented quite honestly and pulled his hand out from beneath Lelouch. When his brother once more started squirming at that, he gently caressed his rear. "Just turn around again and I will be happy to oblige."

This time, Lelouch didn't hesitate.

As soon as he was lying on his back, Clovis pushed his legs apart and settled himself between them, proceeding to give delicate attention to his brother's genitals. Lelouch arched his hips towards him with small, yet definite noises of pleasure, and Clovis took the time to properly appreciate them before he closed his hand exclusively around his brother's erection, moving it up and down the hardened length in slow, deliberate motions until Lelouch jerked his lower body upwards once more, his eyes firmly closed and most delicious sounds escaping his lips.

Eventually Clovis leaned over his brother, speeding up the movement of his hand while doing so, and felt a satisfied smile grace his lips when Lelouch opened his eyes to look at him. For once, there was no trace of anger visible in them _-_ only dazed, all-consuming pleasure.

He watched his brother's face until violet eyes closed again, a look of sheer ecstasy overcoming his features when with an appealing moan, he came into Clovis' hand.

x x x

After he had ejaculated, Lelouch's breathing slowed down slightly, and he lay completely still while Clovis carelessly wiped his hand on the silken sheets that covered the lower end of the bed. When he was done, he rested his fingers on top of his brother's chest and idly let them trail up and down the boy's upper torso.

He enjoyed seeing Lelouch like this – unguarded and too exhausted to move, his pale skin slightly flushed and a strand of dark hair veiling his still closed eyes. It was like looking at a beautiful painting.

A beautiful painting depicting the calm before the storm, but Clovis could live with that.

He also didn't mind that he himself hadn't gotten any pleasure out of this other than that of watching his brother. As far as he was concerned, seeing Lelouch give in to his desires and relax for once was more than enough. It was not as if he had wanted to take him, anyway – he had no doubt that technically, his brother was still a virgin, and from his point of view (he had always been a bit corny that way), that was a fact that should only be changed by a lover.

Whatever he and Lelouch were, "lovers" was not the word for it.

Oh yes, there was some mutual sexual attraction, no doubt about that. But at the end of the day, Lelouch did not exactly regard him tenderly, and even Clovis had to admit that whatever feelings he had for his brother, they were not of romantic nature.

He sought the challenge, he loved trying to get a rise out of Lelouch and effectively gnawing on his nerves, and he genuinely cared about him, maybe more so than he did about anyone else. But he also tried to hook him up with random pretty girls whenever he got the chance, and _oh wouldn't it be cute if his adorable little brother got himself an adorable little girlfriend?_ Or boyfriend, of course – Clovis didn't really care, as long as they were fun to mess with.

So yes, Clovis was more than happy with the way things had turned out. And when he thought that Lelouch had somewhat recovered, he spoke up again, his hand still caressing the softness of his brother's skin.

"I will become governor of Area 11 anyway," he told him casually.

"What?" Lelouch's eyes snapped open. "What for?"

"You ask the strangest questions, little brother." Clovis' lips curled into an amused smile. "Then again, it is no secret that my political ambitions are not exactly hard to surpass. And indeed, there is nothing I despise more than the responsibilities of a leader and the tedium of endless talks about minor issues I could honestly not care less about."

"Then why?" Apparently, Lelouch was still not completely himself again – otherwise, he would have sounded a lot more suspicious. Not that he _didn't_ sound suspicious, but he mostly looked like he was trying to comprehend what Clovis could be thinking instead of just assuming he had some secret plan to take over the world and turn it into a gigantic museum of art. Still, he certainly hadn't lost that nasty habit of his to always look for a hidden agenda.

"It's important to you, isn't it? You would never have agreed to this otherwise, bottomless arrogance or not."

Lelouch narrowed his eyes. "What do you want in return?"

"Ah, but little brother, why would I need to have an ulterior motive to do you a favor? Maybe I don't want anything."

Lelouch snorted. "Try that on someone who isn't your intellectual superior."

"You know, I never noticed how compelling you look when you are being a smart-ass..."

Lelouch's eyes became slits. "This was a one-time thing, Clovis. If you think I would-"

Clovis didn't let him finish. Before his brother could react, he was leaning over him again, his face only centimeters away from his. "The night is not over yet. In fact, we still have several hours." Lelouch's eyes widened, but he didn't try to move away, and Clovis reached out to lightly touch a strand of his hair. "However, I have no intention of abusing that fact, just like I would never suggest what you are implying. Please do not jump to conclusions."

He sat back up, his tone becoming flippant again. "Of course, the politics would be entirely your responsibility. Otherwise, I am afraid that poor country will be going to hell, seeing how I have absolutely no intention of putting up with economical problems and barbaric terrorists."

Lelouch simply stared at him uncomprehendingly. "Why?"

"Because they _bore_ me, of course. And because despite what you may think, and even though you certainly are the paradigm for why they say little brothers are a pain, I happen to be rather fond of you." He idly twirled the strand of Lelouch's hair he was still holding around his fingers. "You could just have asked, you know."

His brother looked at him like he had grown a second head, but still rather blankly, and Clovis thought he might have broken him. Oh well - at least he had died happily. If he appreciated his older brother's generous words, of course, which he probably didn't; but that was his own fault for being an ungrateful little brat.

So Clovis didn't dwell on it and merely patted Lelouch's head. "Sleep now, before you stay like that forever. It looks rather undignified."

And apparently, Lelouch really had been exhausted, because it was not long until he followed that advice. He didn't even take the time to make a snappy retort first, though Clovis supposed that might have something to do with the look Lelouch had given him instead – the one that clearly said, "I will not bother replying to this," and that also seemed to imply that he preferred talking to people he at least deemed _somewhat_ sane.

So Clovis had simply given a mental shrug and kept stroking his little brother's hair affectionately, all the while wondering what kind of tea he should serve in the morning.

x x x

"A paint-brush." The sun had barely appeared on the horizon when his brother made this rather worrying observation. "You took a _paint-brush_ and stuck it into my-" Lelouch broke off, just to suddenly notice something else: "And you were fully clothed the whole time! You actually-"

Clovis decided to flee the room before his brother got over his shock enough to become aware of certain pieces of furniture around him.

It would be most unfortunate to be killed by a flying bedside lamp.


	2. Royal Matters

I really wanted to get this chapter up before the weekend is over and real life starts biting. But first, let me thank those who left a comment - I'm happy you like it so far, and especially happy to see this fic's Clovis being received well. In fact, managing to make someone love him even more makes me positively thrilled.

Yes, there was no smut involving Schneizel in the last chapter - maybe I should have mentioned that all pairings and warnings that can be found prior to the first chapter refer to the fic as a whole. However, I hope this chapter can make up for my forgetfulness!

**Chapter Title: **Royal Matters

**Rating: **M

**Additional Warnings**: Clovis. Believe me, it's a warning in itself.

Also: consent issues concerning a kiss.

* * *

**Pleasures of Art  
- Chapter 2**

.

.

Soft lips moved against his own, so slowly as if asking for permission, but deliberately and without any hesitation. The man pressing him against the wall did not expect him to resist, to either push him away or try to pull back, but was merely waiting for him to reciprocate.

And Clovis did just that. But he was neither being slow nor gentle, slipping his tongue between his older brother's lips and all but shoving it into his mouth.

Schneizel didn't mind, though. Their tongues entwined, almost fighting for dominance, except that Clovis always yielded in the end, his motions more playful than thorough and the amused gleam in his eyes speaking for itself.

Schneizel's gaze was much less easy to read than that. There was a touch of something very attractive, _seductive_, there, something best described as _calculating_ - but other than that, it was impossible to guess what he might be thinking. The Second Prince had never been the most romantic and certainly not the most passionate person, and there was a large possibility that he was actually having a chess match against himself inside his head while they were making out; but that was all right.

Clovis didn't mind that Schneizel could probably care less about sexual activities of any kind and was just humoring him – he _liked_ being humored. And after spending six whole months in the nearly sole company of his most impudent little brother, it was incredibly refreshing to have someone adhere to his whims for once.

Clovis grabbed the back of his brother's head and deepened the kiss, sinking his fingertips into the silky hair only a few shades lighter than his own, and Schneizel willingly obliged. The grip on the younger prince's shoulders tightened as he was once more pushed against the white marble.

When Clovis let out a soft sound of pleasure as their lower bodies touched, Schneizel broke the contact of their lips and let his mouth travel downwards, and Clovis tilted his head to grant him easier access to his throat. From there, it wasn't long until the kisses turned into light bites and a hand started roaming his body, both above and beneath his clothes, and Clovis didn't try to hide the fact that he was enjoying himself.

Then Schneizel stepped back, and barely a moment later, Clovis found himself on the lavish bed on the other side of the room, his brother now pressing him against the mattress instead of the wall and their hips grinding against each other while their tongues began another mock-battle.

Clovis wrapped his legs around Schneizel's hips, intensifying the experience, and they continued like that until Schneizel started disrobing him; however, even then they hardly paused in their actions, mostly because Clovis wouldn't let his brother stop for even a second and never ceased attacking the other man's mouth.

Only when Schneizel finally slipped lubed fingers inside him Clovis got somewhat distracted, moaning softly and focusing on the delicious sensation. But it wasn't long until he determinedly captured his brother's long-since bruised lips again, pulling him closer and arching his hips, never backing down until Schneizel eventually complied, pulling his fingers out and spreading Clovis' legs apart.

When his brother finally took him, Clovis gasped in pleasure, and he didn't mind at all when Schneizel came directly inside him right before he himself reached climax.

x x x

Clovis carefully untangled his legs from Schneizel's hips while his brother drew back slightly to let him roll out from beneath him.

He immediately proceeded to make himself comfortable to Schneizel's right, and when his brother lay down next to him just a second later, Clovis settled his head on his shoulder instead of the pillow and let his fingers trail down the muscular chest. For a sweet, heavenly moment, he was perfectly content.

And of course, Schneizel had to ruin it.

"Have you decided what to do about the recent troubles in Area 11 yet? And about that infamous terrorist responsible for them..."

Oh, how Clovis hated those logic-obsessed brothers of his who could not appreciate the finer things in life.

For a very short, very satisfying moment, Clovis contemplated answering, _"why, screw him, of course"_. But then he perished the thought, knowing that Schneizel would only raise an elegant eyebrow at him and wait for a less facetious answer. Those things only worked on Lelouch – oh, and how Clovis _loved_ creeping him out by making utterly random, entirely inappropriate comments at the strangest of times.

Schneizel was just no fun that way.

"I will think of something," Clovis eventually replied, his demeanor casual and his voice unconcerned.

"I see." Schneizel's tone was calm as always. "And what does Lelouch say about this?"

"Why don't you ask him yourself?"

"Ah, I'm afraid he will probably not be very interested in discussing this matter with me."

"Oh?" Not that Clovis was really surprised. For some reason, Lelouch didn't seem to like Schneizel all that much. It probably got down to the fact that like most people – scratch that, _much more so than most people _-, their little brother did not like losing. He tried to hide it, but _boy could Lelouch be obvious sometimes _, and it frustrated him to no end that the only thing he ever managed to achieve against Schneizel were stalemates. He took it _personally_. "Well, I'm sure he already has several ideas of how to best take control of the situation, but he certainly has not revealed any of them to me. It's not like Lelouch to share his plans."

"I see..."

Before Schneizel could continue killing the mood, Clovis swiftly sat up and cocked his head to the side, giving his brother a boyish smile. "Actually, I think I would really appreciate another round..."

Naturally, Schneizel did not bother denying him.

Despite the reoccurring talks about politics, it was an exceedingly _gratifying_ night.

x x x

Clovis had to admit that he might have overdone it a bit the day before.

He did not make it a habit to be the last person to arrive at a ball, and it was also not like him to be glad for simply managing to keep up a graceful appearance; however, it would have been most undignified to enter the room limping and looking like he had just stumbled out of bed - especially since it was already late evening again.

Something so _plebeian_ would have hurt his flawless image, which, of course, was completely unacceptable. He would have had to remain in his chambers and miss an enjoyable event, and if that alone was not bad enough, there was also his little brother to consider. Lelouch would doubtlessly have killed him had he stayed absent for yet another day.

Not to mention he would have had to pass up a perfect opportunity to annoy his favorite little brother.

Four days ago, they had returned to Britannia for the first time in half a year under the guise of wanting to attend the Grand Ball that took place in the capital every second autumn, as it had become obvious how much Nunnally was missing Euphie, and they were planning on staying until the end of the week, leaving Area 11 in the hands of Jeremiah Gottwald until then. There was no doubt the man was trustworthy - if Clovis had a brother complex, then Jeremiah Gottwald had a full-blown obsession. Actually, Clovis had one of those, too, but that was besides the point.

Lord Gottwald was the closest thing Lelouch had to an official knight, and unlike Clovis, who simply couldn't be bothered with politics as long as it wasn't a life or death situation, he would never neglect his duty, which made him all the more valuable and spared Clovis the sheer boredom of having to remain in Area 11 by himself. For that alone, he liked the man.

After he had briefly greeted the noble women that had started swarming around him as soon as he had entered, Clovis retreated to a less occupied area of the hall to quietly observe the guests without attracting unnecessary attention himself. From there on, it wasn't long until he managed to lay eyes upon the person he had been looking for.

"Ah, Lelouch," he greeted his brother no two minutes later. "The only person to find a dark corner in a room flooded with light – I should have known. It's a wonder you apparently socialize at school."

Lelouch turned to him, a scowl marring his otherwise perfect aristocratic features. "Clovis," he said, not sounding happy at all.

Clovis politely handed him a glass of wine before raising his own. "It's a pleasure to see you, too."

Lelouch merely averted his eyes to disinterestedly watch the crowd again. After some time, though, he at least started taking sips from his drink, which was definitely a good sign. It meant he was not yet planning to kill him. "Where the hell have you been?" he finally asked.

"Oh, you know, the usual." Clovis shrugged his shoulders casually. "Talking to old acquaintances, delighting beautiful ladies with my charming presence, getting my brains screwed out by Schneizel..."

Lelouch choked on his wine. "_What?_"

"Well, you _did_ ask."

"How am I supposed to know you are a sex-obsessed, incestuous _person_ with no sense of shame?" Lelouch exclaimed, but then paused. "Wait, I take that back. I should have known."

Clovis smiled brightly. "Exactly!"

"Why do I put up with you again?"

"Because I am your loving favorite older brother without whom you would be bored to death and even more socially challenged than you already are, which, I must say, would be a serious reason to worry, since I have absolutely no idea how you could still improve in that respect without turning into a kitchen roll."

"...A kitchen roll?"

"Do not attempt looking for the deeper meaning. Your head might explode, and that would be rather messy."

Lelouch stared at him, but Clovis only kept smiling.

Ah, he had been missing this already.

"_Anyway_...," his brother finally said. "Since we happen to have a meeting with the _Emperor_ tomorrow, maybe we should discuss some things? Things that are _not_ related to sexual activities of any kind?"

Clovis widened his eyes. "Those actually exist?"

"Clovis..."

"You know, you really should stop being so god damn uptight all the time. One day, you'll get a heart attack, and what will I tell poor dear Nunnally then?" His brother gave him a _look_, and Clovis sighed. "All right, all right. I'm listening."

"As I was saying, we have to get our facts straight. It might appear natural if you leave all the talking to me, but since technically, I'm not even vice governor, it's not unlikely that the Emperor will just ignore me and ask you directly, and it would be a serious problem if you messed up."

"Ah, I see. No faith in my abilities at all, as always. Oh well, at least you trust me to memorize one or two lines, it seems – coming from you, that's almost flattering. I should be blushing like a school girl."

Lelouch ignored him. "So remember this: we don't have any concrete leads yet to who Zero is, but we're keeping a close eyes on their activities, and we don't need any help. You can handle the situation, everything will soon be under control, and you can attest I'm doing nothing but studying and keeping an eye on what is happening."

"You _are_ aware that father will disinherit me if I make all those promises and prove myself incapable of keeping them?"

"Clovis. We are committing high treason. Being disinherited should be the least of your worries in the case that something goes wrong."

Clovis sniffed. "Don't remind me. Why am I going along with your megalomania again?"

Lelouch smirked. "Because," he said, "I am your beloved favorite younger brother without whom you would be bored to death and even more of an idiot than you already are, which, I must say, would be quite sad, considering I have no idea how you could still improve in that respect."

"Touché." Clovis turned to leave. "Oh well. Just don't forget to turn at least one city into an over-sized museum of art when you have gained world domination... established world peace... bought yourself the pony you always wanted. Whatever you want to call it. I'll be taking a look around - I think I saw Baron Varlan's most charming daughter somewhere. It's a shame Euphie isn't here, isn't it? With Cornelia away gaining more territory, you could have had so much _fun_ hiding in this dark corner together."

With that, Clovis took his leave – not one second to early.

Because when Lelouch caught on to the innuendo just a heartbeat later, he _really_ wanted to hit something.

x x x

In the end, their meeting with the Emperor had gone much more smoothly than either of them could have expected. Apparently, Charles zi Britannia could not care less about what they or any terrorists were doing, and had only called for them to ask for details concerning an unfortunate incident involving _poison gas_. He had indeed focused on Clovis with his questions, but luckily, his brother was not the only one underestimating him - and so their father had merely ended up wasting his time.

Clovis might not have been a master strategist, but if there was one thing outside the field of art (certain similarly pleasurable activities excepted, of course) he was good at, it was talking. Talking so long and exaggeratedly, so obviously narcissistically and with countless digressions that just seemed to come naturally to him that no one, especially not the Emperor himself, could be bothered to listen long enough to notice any discrepancies in _what_ he was saying.

Sooner or later – and usually sooner -, people just wanted him to _shut the hell up_. The Emperor was no exception – he had told him so. And not sounded amused at all, but Clovis could live with that; especially since Lelouch had seemed rather pleased with the Emperor's reaction to Clovis' very polite, very respectful... _utterly pointless chattering_.

Now, only some hours later, they had arrived at Aries' Imperial Villa, where Nunnally and Euphie would meet them in the evening, and were wandering through the vast corridors of the impressive building.

"I guess we're a bit early," Lelouch commented. "But at least the meeting with the Emperor was less aggravating than it could have been." It was quite the statement, considering Lelouch had been brooding ever since he had learned that simply using his newfound power and most dangerous weapon on their father was a rather bad idea that could easily backfire.

"You think so?"

Lelouch raised an eyebrow. "Don't you?"

"Actually, no. It put me in the mood for sex, and that's definitely bad timing."

"...You're disgusting."

"Oh please, stop being such a prude."

"A _prude_?" his brother repeated disbelievingly.

Clovis ignored him. "Hm...," he made thoughtfully. "Maybe I should go pay my mother a visit later."

"Tell me the inappropriate context is just coincidence."

Clovis glanced at his brother and wrinkled his nose in distaste. "Now that's just sick, little brother."

"Don't you dare look at me like _I'm_ the one who has some serious issues here! You get off on talking to the Emperor!"

"Don't be ridiculous." Lelouch snorted, and Clovis continued, "I get off on imagining him singing and dancing naked in the rain. Now, where were we again? Ah, yes. Freud would be having a field day with you."

"Why is it that you are sometimes even more insane than usual?"

"Unsatisfied needs, little brother. You should do something about it. How about some sexual intercourse on the balcony?"

"Sure. _When hell freezes over._"

"Ah, yes." Clovis smiled slyly. "That would be cheating on your little boyfriend, wouldn't it? I agree – we can't have that. But then again... do you think he would mind?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Oh please. I'm not deaf, you know. That one time you convinced him to actually come over turned my suspicions into sweet certainty. He's very vocal, is he not?"

Clovis was almost giddy with glee when his brother actually blushed faintly at that. "You-"

"Ah, don't worry, it's not as if I stayed to overhear... much. Oh my, Lelouch, I didn't expect you to be so-"

"Stop it!"

"-easily flustered." Lelouch noticeably tried to regain his calm. "So, are you always on top, or does the poor guy also get a turn from time to time?"

"...I'll kill you. I swear I will kill you."

Clovis all but beamed in delight. "Why, little brother, I didn't know you were _that_ good."

When Lelouch literally went for his throat at that, Clovis was prepared. Considering his brother's rather pathetic physical abilities, it said a lot that he couldn't escape some minor injuries regardless.

x x x

Of course, Lelouch still ended up being pinned against the wall in the end, his hands being held in place right above his head and a hungry mouth covering his own. Apparently, he was so utterly dumbfounded by this rapid turn of events that he didn't struggle until Clovis' hand slipped under his shirt.

Then, Lelouch actually attempted to kick him. "Stop it!"

When Clovis noticed that his brother seemed more freaked out than he had expected, he let go of his wrists. However, he didn't give up yet. As far as he was concerned, Lelouch had been much too tense these last few days - _someone_ had to do something about that.

"Aw, just a bit of fun? You know I wouldn't go any further than you want me to. And you can't deny you enjoyed it last time..."

"I told you to stop," Lelouch reminded him, quite coolly.

Clovis sighed and backed off.

"You're not mad, are you?" he asked when they walked in silence after that. Lelouch didn't answer. "Oh, come on, Lelouch. You know I was just teasing."

His brother shot him a dark look. "Were you? Could have fooled me."

"But... you know I wouldn't..." Did he? Clovis hesitated before he attempted his best impression of a rejected puppy. "Forgive me? I promise to behave from now on."

Lelouch snorted derisively. "And how long do you think you could keep that up?"

"As long as I want to." Lelouch simply looked at him, apparently not impressed, and Clovis continued, "You'll see - I will be on my best behavior for the entire rest of our stay here! Not a single word that I couldn't repeat during table talk in good conscience will pass my lips."

"Oh?" Suddenly, a smirk appeared on formerly expressionless features. "Now that's something to look forward to."

That was when Clovis realized he had been had. He paused in mid-step, gaping, before he caught himself again and hurried after his brother – who, of course, had not bothered waiting for him.

"You, dear little brother, are positively evil."

"You noticed?"

x x x

Dusk had barely passed when Lelouch decided that he would never, _never again_ believe a word his brother said.

It wasn't that Clovis had lied, exactly. He had indeed kept his mouth shut about all inappropriate topics, even when a perfect opportunity presented itself and you could almost _feel_ him resist the temptation. Every word that had left his lips for the rest of the afternoon had been uncharacteristically tame, and when Nunnally and Euphie arrived, even that wicked gleam of _something_ had faded from the blond prince's gaze.

From there on, he had been faultlessly docile, mildly flattering their sisters and offering to assist them in drawing their reluctant victim (for that, Lelouch couldn't even blame Clovis, since it had been Euphie who had suggested him as the model). It was mostly Euphie who did the drawing, Nunnally providing the moral support and Clovis giving pointers here and there, and for some time, everything had been fine. Except that Lelouch wasn't allowed to move or even blink, but since Clovis was not throwing disturbing innuendo his way for once, he had been content with the situation anyway, letting his sisters have their fun and completely ignoring his unusually quiet brother.

In the end, however, actions speak louder than words, and when Lelouch finally looked up because Euphie wanted him to put on another expression, he nearly choked.

Clovis was looking straight at him, the wicked gleam back in his far too expressive aqua colored eyes and his lips curled into a tiny, meaningful smile that cast a whole new light onto the way he oh-so absent-mindedly stroked the colored pencil in his hand. The smile grew in exactly the same moment Lelouch felt his eyes widen, and Clovis bent down to pick up a paint-brush from the table next to him.

Then the obnoxious governor of Area 11 turned to Euphie, and when she looked up at him questioningly, Clovis gave her an encouraging smile. "Try this one," he said and handed the pencil to her.

"Thank you! ...Uhm, is everything all right?"

Lelouch's gaze snapped from the pencil to Euphie's face. "What?"

"Do you need a break?" his half-sister asked in obvious concern.

Lelouch silently cursed his brother and smiled at her. "I'm fine. I was just thinking of something."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

Euphie gave him a short appraising look before she nodded slightly. "All right, if you say so." When she received a nod in return, she turned back to the drawing. "But you should leave your head like it was before. It was a nice pose."

Lelouch reluctantly did as she had asked him to, and Clovis smiled when their gazes met again. He raised the brush to his lips and started nibbling the end without bristles.

It could have been an innocent, pensive gesture, a harmless habit... except that Clovis was nibbling the wooden handle very _sensually_, his eyes practically sparkling with mischief. And then he began sucking lightly, his tongue caressing the smooth material with deliberate slowness, and it couldn't have looked harmless anymore even to Euphie, who, as Lelouch would only realize much later, was too busy painting to notice anything off - which was strange, because Lelouch was sure the look on his face should have been a dead give-away.

At that very moment, though, he didn't care. He wasn't even _thinking_, which was an incredibly rare occurrence. His gaze was transfixed on the paint-brush between Clovis' lips, and even though he was angry and appalled by his brother's lack of decorum... he had to admit that the sight before him was a very appealing one.

He wondered if this meant he was losing his mind. It wouldn't surprise him if mental diseases ran in the family – it would explain quite a lot, after all, and fit with his usual luck just perfectly.

x x x

"Are you feeling unwell?"

The question was asked lightly, innocently, and didn't seem to hold any double-meaning... except that the one asking it was everything _but_ innocent, just like the smile tugging at the edge of his lips and the way he was playing with the pencil between his fingers.

Lelouch bestowed a cool look upon his brother. "Don't concern yourself. I've rarely been better."

"Oh, but I _am_ concerned." Clovis crossed the room, only stopping a mere foot away from him. "You seem unusually... _distracted_ this evening. Euphie and Nunnally noticed it, as well, and I had to promise them to make sure you were all right before they would leave. You're not getting ill on us, are you?"

Lelouch slapped the offensive hand away before it could touch his forehead. "I told you I'm fine."

"You don't _look_ fine."

"It's none of your business."

"Ah, but it is, little brother..." Clovis took another step towards him – any closer now and he would be standing on Lelouch's toes. His voice lowered into a purr, "I promised to take care of you, after all."

Lelouch fought against the image of various art supplies appearing unbidden before his inner eye. "And I told you I'm fine," he retorted evenly. "So go and annoy someone else."

However, Clovis only leaned in closer, and even though he would usually have perceived it as as a sign of weakness to step back, Lelouch allowed himself to act on impulse this time and do just that, because this was Clovis, and normal rules didn't apply where his older brother was concerned – the Third Prince would not hesitate to restore to less conventional methods to make his point.

Unfortunately, Lelouch didn't get very far despite his readiness to retreat, as he soon found himself with his back against the wall, Clovis' face only inches away from his own and his brother's hot breath tickling his ear.

"But Lelouch... you know you're the only one for me."

The irony of this statement was so great that Lelouch was almost amused by it. Almost. His brother, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying himself immensely – he pulled back slightly, and the expression in his eyes bordered on glee. But there was something else there, and Lelouch knew that this was not just revenge for earlier or 'teasing'. Far more than either of those, it was an honest attempt on his brother's part to seduce him.

And Lelouch was almost tempted to let him.

A hand slid under his clothes, stroking his chest and trailing down his sides, and then there were soft lips ghosting over his throat, caressing it lightly before they finally settled for nibbling his right earlobe.

The whole time, Lelouch stood still like a statue, trying not to show any reaction, but he found himself enjoying his brother's advances far too much to be able to keep up his pretense of indifference for much longer. For a split second, he considered pushing Clovis away – he only needed to make his point clear enough to put an end to this.

But then he allowed himself a moment longer to think about it, because there was no doubt that his mind was already working less efficiently than it should have been, and by the end of that moment, his brother was opening the buttons of his shirt, grazing his collarbone with his teeth and lightly biting down on the sensitive flesh in the crook of his neck.

That was when Lelouch decided that there was no reason not to take what was being offered. The only thing he would gain from denying himself this was the satisfaction of putting his brother back in his place, and for once, it just just wouldn't be worth it.

Soon, their lower bodies were tightly pressing against each other, and Clovis looked up from what he was doing to smile at him slyly. "You must really like pencils."

x x x

"Shut up."

Lelouch grabbed his head and kissed him, rudely shoving his tongue past his lips as if to emphasize his point, and Clovis had to suppress another smile. But he didn't resist, merely titling his head to the side and letting his brother assault his mouth without complaint. Only after some seconds he started responding to this very _thorough_ attack on his oral cavity more actively.

However, where Lelouch kissed him as if he would rather be killing him instead, Clovis was considerably less aggressive, closing his eyes and merely going along with what his brother was doing for the most part. He wasn't in a hurry, after all, and it was obvious that Lelouch fully intended to take the lead this time. Convincing him otherwise would take some persuasion, and Clovis wasn't sure yet he wanted to make the effort. There were other, less bothersome ways to get his brother to relax, and in the end, that was really all he wanted. Not to mention he rather liked seeing Lelouch this... _eager_.

So he happily played along, letting his brother ravish his mouth and all but dig his fingernails into his scalp, and only when Lelouch let go of him again he reassumed touching him, carelessly letting his brother's already loose shirt slide to the ground and biting his nipples. At the same time, he slipped a hand into Lelouch's pants and squeezed his rear, enjoying feeling his brother's lower body arch forward and the quiet groan that escaped Lelouch when their erections rubbed against each other through the lavish clothes.

As soon as the delicious sound left his brother's lips, Clovis took hold of his hips and pushed him back against the wall, his mouth slowly traveling downwards and artfully distracting Lelouch from any elaborate resistance. He still struggled a bit, though, even as he failed to hold back a soft moan when Clovis shortly encircled the bulb between his legs with his free hand before he let his head go beyond the waist line, kneeling onto the cool marble and pulling his brother's pants down with him. He then proceeded to rob Lelouch of his underwear, letting his mouth touch the erection so lightly as if it were a feather before starting to kiss and nibble the pale flesh between his brother's thighs.

His hand ran up and down Lelouch's legs, sometimes caressing his buttocks or hardened member, and occasionally kneading equally affected testicles, so that his brother was too busy concealing his sounds of pleasure and trying to remain upright to keep Clovis from tormenting him further.

Eventually Clovis went back to paying attentions to Lelouch's genitals, nuzzling and sucking them lightly, and he looked up to see his brother close his eyes, obviously trying to cling to the last remainders of his self-control.

He smiled slyly. "Do you think you could keep this up for another hour?"

x x x

Violet eyes, slightly dazed but more focused than Clovis would have expected, fell on him in a very impressive glare, and his smile widened. He lightly kissed Lelouch's stomach. "Tell me what you want."

"For you to shut up." Lelouch's voice barely wavered.

Clovis smirked. "And?"

"And..."

Clovis couldn't say he was surprised when a hand grabbed the back of his skull and pushed him downwards, and he only shot his brother an amused look before he complied, finally taking the hardened length into his mouth and sucking it. Lelouch's fingers sunk further into his hair, and his grip on Clovis' head tightened as he pushed himself in deeper and the thrusting of his hips gradually grew faster, until his little brother was fucking his mouth – there was no more eloquent way of putting it.

Clovis briefly thought that Lelouch was probably the only person he would ever allow to shove him around like this, before he focused on bringing his brother closer to the edge again. However, he soon found that he didn't need to do much any more – not until he had as good as reached his goal and Lelouch's legs had become too weak for him to continue doing most of the work by himself.

Clovis didn't pull back, though, even when the grip on his hair weakened. As far as he was concerned, swallowing was both less messy and more dignified than the alternatives, and he very much enjoyed hearing Lelouch's poorly suppressed moan when he finally came into his mouth.

He also liked watching his brother fight not to slide down the wall, his ivory legs trembling first from pleasure and then due to exhaustion, and when Clovis eventually licked his lips and got up again, he had no regrets about the fact that it was not very likely that he would be getting any more physical satisfaction from this than the last time.

Idly, he stroked Lelouch's upper-torso and let himself enjoy the view for a few more minutes – his usually so composed younger brother leaning against the wall for support, his eyes firmly closed and his breath coming in short gasps while he tried to regain control over his body.

Then, without further ado, Clovis slid an arm under the still shaking legs, and violet eyes snapped open.

"What are you-" his brother started, still trying to catch his breath, but nonetheless sounding rather angry. Clovis cut him off by quickly pressing their lips together – it was a short kiss devoid of desire, but it lasted long enough for him to lift Lelouch into his arms without his brother being able to protest.

"Quiet. Since my jaw will probably be hurting until the end of the week after this, and seeing how I sincerely doubt that you are still in a state to return the favor, you have really no right to complain. Just be glad even my temporary quarters here are an ideal place for painting – this way, I will hopefully not be suffering from lumbago any time soon, and you won't have to explain to our cute little sisters why I am carrying you through the whole building looking like you just attempted to run a marathon."

Not to mention that the complete lack of clothes might be a bit hard to miss.

Lelouch glared at him, but he wasn't nearly as stiff in his arms anymore as in the beginning, and he didn't struggle. Apparently, he was well aware that his own body had betrayed him, and that he would have so much trouble actually _staying_ on his legs if Clovis were to relent and let him down right now that he might as well endure this comparably small blow to his pride if it meant avoiding an even greater humiliation.

x x x

As Clovis had anticipated, Lelouch wasn't very heavy, but it was still a good thing it were only a few steps half-across the room until the bed, because his younger brother was not the only person in the family whose talents didn't exactly lie in the physical department of things. The only sport Clovis was truly good at was sex, and as far as he was concerned, that was more than enough. He had never attempted to broaden his horizons in that respect.

Carefully, he lowered Lelouch onto the silken sheets and sat down beside him, lightly caressing the alabaster skin of his brother's upper body while Lelouch slowly rested his head on the pillow. And even though the look his favorite little brother eventually directed at him still wasn't an overly _friendly_ one, he didn't do anything to dissuade Clovis from touching him, which was already something in itself. It meant Lelouch was either in a good mood or simply too dazed from pleasure and exhaustion to really care.

After all the trouble he had gone to, Clovis figured it should be an even mixture of both – and so he decided to push his luck.

"You know," he said pleasantly, "you're incredibly cute when you are being this compliant." Lelouch's gaze noticeably darkened, and Clovis smiled disarmingly at him. "But of course, I don't mind the opposite, either. In fact, I always found your more forceful side to be very... _alluring_."

To underline his words, he leaned forwards, softly brushing his lips against those of his brother, who didn't deign to humor him with a reaction. So Clovis drew back again, casually pulling the covers over Lelouch and patting his head. "Ah, well, I guess I would be worried if you weren't being grumpy. God forbid you should ever crack a smile at me – I think I might die of a heart attack."

"_Grumpy?_"

"Yes, little brother, you are a socially retarded grumpy prude. But don't worry, I still think you're adorable."

Lelouch snorted.

"And did I ever mention I really like your hair?" Clovis stopped patting his brother's head and took hold of a strand of the raven locks. "It's so soft. I would ask you what shampoo you are using, but I doubt you would be able to give me an answer. Then again, you probably even remember the serial number – but that only means I'd have to guess whether you're just being a smart-ass as always or even more vain than myself. It's a scary thought, so I'll better keep the burning questions about beauty products to myself, no matter how much it pains me."

"Do you even know _how_ to shut up?"

"But Lelouch, I already did that. It's not my fault you lack the stamina."

"You're impossible."

"Personally, I prefer 'insatiable'."

Clovis smiled meaningfully, and Lelouch looked at him the way he always did when Clovis was completely ignoring his point in favor of sexual innuendo.

"Good night," Lelouch said eventually, pointedly stressing each word and turning away from him.

"_Pleasurable_ dreams, little brother."

Some time later, Clovis had gotten rid of the less comfortable parts of his clothing and also sneaked under the covers. He wrapped his arms around his brother from behind and was pleased when Lelouch pretended to be already asleep instead of pushing him away.

x x x

"Is it pretty?"

Lelouch looked down at the flower in his sister's hands and smiled. It was a narcissus, one of their mother's favorites when she had still been alive. They grew in droves in a relatively secluded part of the garden at Aries' Imperial Villa during spring and often summer, but Lelouch had no idea why one of them should just pop up amongst the autumn flowers.

"Yes. It looks very nice."

"It's almost as beautiful as the young lady holding it," Clovis agreed in the light tone he always used when talking to either Nunnally or Euphie. In his own, overly charming way, he was doting on them almost as badly as Cornelia and Lelouch himself were.

"You always say things like that, Clovis-_oniisama_," Nunnally noted, sounding amused.

"What can I say? I'm an honest man."

Nunnally giggled.

"Do you think Suzaku would like it?" she asked, turning back to Lelouch.

"I'm sure he would," Lelouch assured her with a smile in his voice, trying to ignore the stab of _something_ in his heart at the mention of his best friend.

It wasn't that he he felt guilty for having given in to Clovis' advances – it had been just sex, after all, and not even that if one went with the most narrow definition of the word. A way to relieve some tension and get his brother to stop being even more annoying than usual.

Still, he wasn't happy that Suzaku couldn't have accompanied them to Britannia, and he also wasn't happy that his friend persistently refused to see things his way.

Didn't he know that no one cared what he did to change the system from within? Couldn't he see that Britannia was rotten, beyond redemption as long as Charles zi Britannia was its Emperor?

_Idiot_, Lelouch thought, and wished he was back in Area 11.

x x x

"Ah, so this is where you are," a familiar voice startled Lelouch out of his thoughts – almost as if on cue - and made him spin around to stare at the person who had appeared right behind them out of nowhere. A person who _really_ shouldn't have been there.

He wanted to say something, to ask them _what the hell the meaning of this was_, but Nunnally beat him to it.

"Miss C.C.?" Surprise and confusion were evident in his sister's voice.

"Lelouch's destiny and my own lie together," C.C. explained to her in a deadpan. "It's only natural I should stay by his side."

"Oh..."

"C.C.," Lelouch cut in with forced calm. "What are you doing here?"

"I told you - I came after you. I wanted pizza."

"I gave you enough money to buy that damned company!"

C.C. didn't answer, but merely turned around and took in the view, not at all bothered by Lelouch's justified disbelief.

"Lelouch..." Only now Lelouch noticed that his brother had continuously been creeping closer to him. "What is _she_ doing here?"

"That's what _I_ want to know, as well, in case you weren't listening!"

Clovis ignored him. "Make her go away."

He had said it quietly, but apparently, C.C. heard him regardless. She turned to them and stared at the blond prince unblinkingly, her face devoid of emotion, and Clovis whimpered, hurriedly stepping behind Lelouch and grabbing his shoulders. "Make her go away," he repeated, like a stereotypical woman suffering from arachnophobia being confronted with a tarantella.

"Stop being a drama queen."

"Please, Lelouch," Clovis said quietly, urgently. "I'll never say the word 'sex' again for the next few months. I'll not purposely imply anything that you would find annoying. I'll not try to make you uncomfortable. Just make her go away!"

"You're pathetic."

"I don't care. Make her go away!"

Lelouch sighed. He was fairly sure his brother would be clinging to him no matter what for as long as the green haired immortal was present. Ever since the _poison gas incident_, Clovis almost fell prey to panic attacks at the mere mention of C.C. Lelouch thought it was his own fault – he should just have stayed away from that Code R project. But his brother was an idiot, so of course he had let his curiosity get the better of him and acted without consulting him first.

Naturally, the results had been close to disastrous.

Clovis had failed to keep those overenthusiastic scientists under control, made life for terrorists a lot easier and almost gotten both Lelouch and Suzaku killed. The good thing was that he and his childhood friend had finally met up again after seven years on that occasion, and of course, there also was the very useful power Lelouch had received that day. But his brother's resulting feelings of guilt had led him to be even more irritating than he normally was – which certainly said something – and apparently, Clovis had also managed to make an immortal witch into his enemy. Or maybe she just enjoyed getting him to freak out in the same way his brother seemed to find pleasure in driving Lelouch up the wall. In any case, it served him right... if he only wasn't so damn annoying about it.

"Lelouch!"

Lelouch wanted to groan. He couldn't believe he had been sexually intimate with this hysterical idiot.

Clovis' grip on his shoulders tightened, and Lelouch sighed resignedly.

"C.C." He waited until the woman tore her eyes away from his brother to look at him. "There's a place known to serve delicious food not too far from here. It's famous for its pizza."

C.C.'s blank expression changed, and Clovis' relief when it became apparent that the immortal would soon be on her way into the city was almost palpable.

Lelouch wondered why he was surrounded by lunatics, sadists and pathetic morons, and if it should worry him that Clovis in particular embodied not just one, but _all_ of these traits.

In the end, he took solace in the fact that at least his perfect little sister wasn't out to make his life a living Hell.

And people wondered why he had a sister complex. Just _try_ being part of the Royal Family and a wanted enemy of the state without one and see how long until you stop being able to form coherent sentences.


	3. Cats and Dogs

I have finally returned from the Evil Trip of Doom that kept me all this week, and with a bit of luck, the next three chapters will follow pretty quickly.

**Chapter Title:** Cats and Dogs

**Rating:** M

**Additional Warnings**: A kiss scene that isn't quite slash. Hope it won't kill anyone!

* * *

**Pleasures of Art  
- Chapter 3**

.

.

Lelouch turned his head towards the window and stared at the red drapes blocking his view with an intensity usually reserved for things much more exciting than presumptuous pieces of furniture.

He didn't dwell on his uncharacteristic interest in textiles, though. In fact, he hardly noticed the lack of scenery, and if the curtains had vanished into thin air at that very moment and given stage to the magnificent full moon complementing the dark blue of the sky surrounding it, he probably wouldn't have noticed. His thoughts were on other matters – matters much more important than furniture or landscape.

For six days, he had been thinking furiously about the problem making him restless, convinced that the solution would eventually come to him. Now the week was almost over, and he still had no idea how to get Suzaku away from that damned military of his.

Of course, he could always make sure that his friend would stay far away from the battlefield by making use of his influence on Britannian matters in Area 11, but that wouldn't be much better than using _Geass_ on him, and he respected Suzaku's free will far too much to do that. No, he needed to _convince_ him, to make him see just how worthless the country he was so chivalrously trying to change from within really was, and that wouldn't work if his friend insisted on merely alternating between closing his eyes and simply looking the other way.

Once again, it was Lelouch's pride that prevented him from taking the easiest route, the one that doubtlessly was the most reasonable in this case. Not only was he passing up an invaluable ally, he was also leaving his best friend to risk his life for despicable people who didn't deserve his protection. People who would turn on him in a heartbeat, who more often than not didn't even _pretend_ to appreciate his efforts.

Lelouch's grip on the glass in his hand tightened.

How could someone whose opinion he valued so much be so... so... so incredibly _stupid_?

"It's not made of iron, you know."

Lelouch snapped his head around and narrowed his eyes at the most annoying of all his obnoxious half-siblings.

Clovis smiled at him. "Don't mind me. If you want to crush it with your bare hands, go ahead. The poor thing might not deserve it, but the resulting shards would give me an excuse to fuss over you. I was just getting bored, anyway."

Lelouch wordlessly put down the glass on the table in front of him.

"Ah, you wouldn't do me a favor to save your life, would you?" Clovis left the door frame to place himself in the middle of the room, right behind the armchair Lelouch was sitting on. "It's sad when someone falls for reverse psychology despite recognizing it. But I'm flattered how much acting contrary to my wishes means to you."

Lelouch discovered that he couldn't turn his head far enough to properly glare at his brother anymore, so his wrath met the curtains instead. "What do you want?"

"Just seeing how my favorite little brother is doing!" Lelouch snorted derisively. "It didn't escape my notice that you spent the whole day brooding again," Clovis continued, his tone losing some of its mistimed cheerfulness but remaining casual. "Is something wrong?"

"No."

"Would you tell me if there was?" Lelouch didn't dignify that question with a reply, and Clovis rested his hands on his shoulders. "You're awfully tense," he noted and leaned forward slightly.

"If you're going to suggest having some 'healthy, therapeutic sex' again, don't waste your breath."

"Well, it was either that or a healthy, therapeutic conversation in which you tell me what it is that troubles you. Since pouring out your heart to me probably comes right after doing me a favor, I decided to go with the first option; especially since it almost worked yesterday."

"You call me threatening to get someone to shoot you 'almost worked'?"

"Of course. You talked about using your Geass, not telling Cornelia what I said about you, a dark corner and her beloved little sister. It clearly shows that my charm is getting to you."

"Has it ever crossed your mind that I might already have told her?"

"You wouldn't."

"Because I'm such a nice, good person?"

"You wouldn't," Clovis repeated, but he didn't sound so sure anymore. "Tell me you didn't!"

Smirking, Lelouch finally looked at his brother again. "Ah, but Clovis, you know I would never lie to you."

"But-but... but Lelouch!"

"Don't worry. I'm sure she won't kill you." Lelouch paused, pretending to consider. "If you crawl to her and beg for forgiveness," he then added. "And if you do it far away from any carpets she wouldn't want to ruin. You know how it is - mutilation can get rather messy. If it was me, I'd decide that simply killing you would be less harmful to the furniture." It was very satisfying to watch Clovis slowly but surely go pale. "It's all right – your chances are still pretty good. If you had said something like that about Nunnally, I wouldn't even stop to think about the carpet."

"Lelouch!" his brother all but squeaked.

Lelouch effortlessly shook off the hands weakly gripping his shoulders and got up. "You know, I think you might actually have been right," he remarked as he made his way to the door. "I _do_ feel better."

He thought he heard Clovis whimper behind him, and decided not to tell him that he hadn't spoken to Cornelia since she had returned from her newest conquest the day before, and that he only planned to do so if she came along with Euphie to see them off in the morning. But even then, he wouldn't tell her.

An evil little smile played at the corner of Lelouch's lips. It would be far more amusing to watch Clovis make a fool of himself.

x x x

"You lied."

Lelouch didn't even bother denying the accusation. "What makes you think so?"

"How about the fact that I am still alive?"

"Maybe she wants it to be slow and painful."

"She didn't say a word."

"Maybe she wants you to feel safe so that the revenge will be all the sweeter."

"She looked at me as if I had lost it when I hid behind you."

"And flinched and whimpered the whole time? Hm, yes. If she doesn't know anything, she probably thinks you have gone _completely_ mad now."

"So you admit it!"

Lelouch shrugged. "It was you who drew the conclusions. I just helped the process along."

Silence.

"You know," Clovis eventually said. "Sometimes I really hate you."

x x x

After that, there wasn't a single word exchanged between them until they arrived in Area 11.

Lelouch enjoyed the quiet. If he had known it was that easy to get his brother to shut up, he would have asked Cornelia to accompany them.

It was so incredibly convenient... and so much less noisy than the result of threatening to lock Clovis into a room with C.C. and throw away the key.

Lelouch decided that from now on, he would always go for "reasonably scared" instead of "terrified beyond reason" with his brother. He just needed to find a few more things that had the desired effect.

x x x

"Narita?"

"Don't tell me you weren't aware it's a terrorist hideout. I informed Jeremiah quite some time before we left for Britannia. Even _you_ should have heard about it by now."

Clovis sniffed. "Give me some credit, little brother. I haven't spent the last few months in a cave, even though I was certainly tempted when the politics continued to haunt me. What I'm surprised about is that you would bother with this. The Japan Liberation Front might hold some sway amongst terrorists, but their actual power is highly limited. I don't see how they are worth the trouble of staging a battle of this magnitude."

"You're underestimating their influence." On the other side of the table, Lelouch leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs. "Before the Black Knights came along, they were the largest group in Area 11 that dared resisting Britannia. Even those in the Ghettos who don't support them are hesitant to betray their secrets – without the Geass, I would never have managed to track them down this fast, despite having quite a few helpful rumors to go by. If they were to be crushed while the Black Knights came out victorious against the same enemy, it would seem even more like a miracle than the simple defeat of Britannia's forces."

"Well, you certainly _need_ a miracle for this to work. If I send as many troops there as you are suggesting, your merry little bunch of self-proclaimed justice fighters will be completely outnumbered. What do you plan to do – _geass_ a mountain so that it will spontaneously crumble and sweep your enemies off their feet?"

Lelouch smirked. "Something like that."

Clovis took in the extremely self-satisfied expression on his brother's face. "You're not going to tell me, are you?"

"No."

Clovis sighed. "Oh well. Just make sure you don't get yourself killed - dying is only fun when you can do it repeatedly."

To his credit, Lelouch didn't blink "What?"

Ah. Endearingly unsuspecting.

Clovis rested his chin on the palm of his hand and smiled amiably. "Petite mort, little brother. Petite mort."

For a moment, Lelouch only stared.

Then the look of disbelief quickly faded from his features, and the expression that remained was one of a man who wanted nothing more than to hit his head on a table until sweet unconsciousness relieved him from the infinite stupidity around him.

x x x

Although the peak period of summer had already come to an end weeks ago, the weather in Area 11 did not seem to care about the human calendar. The night was warm and clear, and it wasn't dark enough for the pale moon to really stand out against the sky.

A pity. The idyllic scenery would have made for a beautiful painting otherwise.

"Will you be returning to school again before you put that grand plan of yours into action?"

Lelouch came to a hold next to him and rested his arms on the balustrade. "It's still more than a week."

"Is that a yes?"

"Obviously. A family emergency may be a good excuse, but even with me constantly skipping classes and Milly covering, three weeks would really be stretching it."

Clovis hummed slightly. "Well, I guess there are other important things on your schedule besides keeping me entertained. Not _as_ important, of course, but if they pile up for long enough, they might actually come close. Eventually."

Lelouch snorted.

"So tell me, are you looking forward to school?"

"What is it to you?"

"Ah, you know I love prying into your business. Besides, I'm curious about the school led by the Ashford family." Clovis glanced sidewards. "They were supporters of your mother's, weren't they?"

Lelouch's expression didn't change, but there was a short pause before he replied, "There's nothing interesting about Ashford Academy," and stepped back. "If you'd excuse me. There are things I have to do."

He left without another word, and without waiting for a reply.

When Lelouch had disappeared into the room connected to the balcony again - one of many in the government building that resembled a living room with too much space inside -, Clovis returned to watching the moon. Maybe he should have shown some courtesy and stayed away from that particular subject. But then again, if one happened to be part of the Royal Family, there were a lot of delicate topics with his little brother, and Clovis had made it a habit to casually bring one of them up from time to time. Some would probably call him inconsiderate, but really, what was the point of letting a wound close if it would only continue to fester?

And maybe he had _wanted_ Lelouch to go away.

The truth was, Clovis didn't like his brother's plan concerning the Japan Liberation Front. He trusted his his brother's abilities, he truly did, but sometimes, he was just so _reckless_, and it drove Clovis mad. Lelouch was a genius, but he was also an overconfident teenager with a dangerous love for pushing his luck. In fact, if there was one very noticeable trait they had in common, it was their flair for the dramatic.

Clovis couldn't blame his brother, but he still didn't enjoy being left in the dark. Whatever Lelouch was planning, it was something big, and in his brother's case, 'big' was a synonym for 'dangerous' and thus 'highly undesirable'. Except if one took the adjective out of context, of course, but for once, Clovis didn't feel like applying double-meanings to harmless not-so little words, and he berated himself for doing so anyway; it seemed he really _did_ have a one-track mind. Not that he saw a problem with that – being able to constantly drive Lelouch to the brink of sanity with it alone was more than worth it - , but sometimes, on very rare occasions, it turned out to be a bad habit.

In any case, Clovis was not happy about having to let Lelouch risk his neck without knowing any of the details. But he also wasn't happy about his little brother associating himself with terrorists and being obsessed with grand plans to destroy their home country – in the end, there was nothing he could do but watch and make sure that in the case that something went wrong one day, he would be there and in a position to cushion the fall. The only occasion on which he _really_ had given Lelouch a piece of his mind was when the boy had first started his little quest to change the world. And honestly... _Zero_? There was a reason why one should leave matters of creativity to artists, not teenagers suffering from megalomania.

Clovis had found that being around Lelouch was like trying to take care of a particularly difficult cat. A particularly difficult cat that had been kicked once too often and decided that generally, people just weren't worth its time, because _obviously_ it was managing just fine on its own. Getting close was hard, staying close a challenge, and getting it to be cuddly or do one's bidding downright impossible if one didn't happen to be named Nunnally. You couldn't leave it alone, because then all you would be seeing of it would be its back while it was toying with some pitiable mouse, but you also couldn't push too hard, because then it would either be on its way or get nasty. Some scratches were fine and indeed hard to avoid, but Clovis happened to rather like his face, and he would hate to require a new one any time soon.

Not that he was overly worried about that, though.

Clovis had never owned a cat, but seeing how he was still as beautiful as ever, it seemed he was doing just fine with Lelouch.

x x x

Seething, Lelouch stared at the wall in front of him.

He knew he was overreacting, and that most of his anger really stemmed from the fact that he would soon be seeing Suzaku again and still hadn't figured out how to make the other boy more receptive to his cause. Since a rather heated conversation some time after Arthur's welcome party, he hadn't approached the subject of the Black Knights with his best friend again, and he had been uneasy ever since.

Still, it wasn't just that Clovis had the worst timing. How dare he mention his mother? Even Nunnally hardly spoke of her, and she had every right to.

It wasn't surprising that Clovis chose to discover and lose his sense of tact depending on the situation, but the last time he had brought up this particular topic, he had at least had something resembling a reason for it, even though the details still escaped Lelouch.

Lelouch paused in his thoughts when he remembered the incident. His brother had acted quite strangely back then... even more strangely than usual. And maybe that exceedingly _odd_ episode, as well as the story surrounding it, contained the explanation as to why Lelouch really put up with him.

It had started long before the meaningful smiles and inappropriate advances; about seven years ago, right after he and Nunnally had returned from Japan. Back then, there hadn't been many people who still cared to associate themselves with them, and Lelouch had been perfectly fine with that. Euphie had been one of the very few exceptions, and so by default, the same had applied to Cornelia, if to a much smaller extent. From all their other half-siblings, only Clovis had insisted to stick around.

And _insisted_ was indeed the right word for it - there had been nothing able to deter him.

Without any explanation, the Third Prince had visited them at the Aries Villa at least once a week - almost as if he didn't have anything better to do, and after some time even without announcing himself first. No matter how often Lelouch had brushed him off, no matter how much of his hostility he had let show to get rid of the nuisance, Clovis had kept coming back, like a stray dog you had once given an especially tasty sausage to and that would now never leave you alone again. You could yell at it, kick it or starve it - it wouldn't get you anywhere.

The most annoying part had been that Lelouch couldn't even remember throwing the sausage, which meant that he'd had absolutely no idea how to rectify his mistake. As long as he could remember, he and Clovis had always been arguing – after Lelouch had fallen from grace, there was no reason for his brother not to stay the hell away from him.

As a logical consequence, Lelouch had made Clovis his prime suspect regarding his mother's murder, but his brother had never been one to make much sense, so of course, that could only have led him to a dead end. Clovis had constantly been carefree and cheerful, going on and on about meaningless things as if they were the most fascinating topic of conversation of all, and Lelouch had never gotten any further in his investigations.

To make things worse, he couldn't have just prevented Clovis from coming altogether, because it soon had become obvious that all the things that irritated Lelouch to no end – the chatter, the lightheartedness, the flowers he always brought his sister – made Nunnally happy. They distracted her from thinking about Suzaku and worrying about the future, and Lelouch could never have taken that away from her, even if it had been nothing more than a drop in the ocean in the beginning, and even though he'd sooner have trusted an aggravated shark than any of his older half-siblings.

So Lelouch had tolerated Clovis, feigning indifference almost as often as he had let some of his dislike shine through, until one day not even two years after their return, he had let Nunnally talk him into visiting an art gallery with their obnoxious half-brother. Seeing how Nunnally was Nunnally, and how she had been lying in bed with a light, but persistent fever at that time and thus been unable to attend herself, 'talk into' meant that a worrying frown on her face when she realized she wouldn't be able to come had led Lelouch to make a rash promise to go in her stead - at least it had meant he no longer needed to look for an excuse to not let her go with their brother alone.

Still, it had not taken him long to regret his decision – and when Clovis had acted as if he had indeed volunteered, Lelouch had been tempted to just go for his throat and be done with it.

That afternoon, when the event had almost been over and they had been standing in front of a very impressive picture of the newest Knightmare prototype at the time, for once in complete silence and not showing any signs of either plotting the other's mental breakdown or murder, Clovis had suddenly spoken up.

"I never offered you my condolences, did I?"

Lelouch had turned to him, caught off-guard. "What?"

There had been an odd expression on his brother's face, and his gaze had almost seemed wistful. "She was really something... Lady Marianne."

Before Lelouch could react, Clovis had turned around and made his way over to the next painting.

Only after staring at his brother's back for several seconds Lelouch had finally taken a step forward and exclaimed, "Wait!"

Clovis had turned his head and looked at him questioningly.

"Why?" Lelouch had asked angrily. "Why now?"

His brother had simply watched him with an unreadable gaze for several seconds before finally shrugging. "It didn't seem right after you had just returned. And before... well, I suppose I was just being stupid. I'm aware we didn't have the warmest relationship back then, and I didn't want it to sound like an empty phrase. I regretted not saying anything as soon as you were gone."

Without giving Lelouch time to process that information, Clovis had straightened his shoulders and given him a lofty smile. "Naturally, I'm not one to repeat my mistakes, so don't expect to get rid of me any time soon."

The conversation had ended there, but from that day on, Clovis truly had been like an annoying puppy, not only behaving as if some invisible thread prevented him from leaving his side for extended periods of time, but also being much too affectionate for Lelouch's taste, randomly hugging him and patting him on the head ever since he had been too startled to react appropriately the first time.

To Lelouch's great chagrin, it had only gotten harder to keep his suspicions intact from there on, and he'd had even less of an excuse to keep his brother from seeing Nunnally and treating those visits as an opportunity to gnaw on his nerves.

Not that Lelouch had believed in the pureness of his half-brother's intentions, but it had been so obvious that he didn't care about politics or anything even remotely close to them that even Lelouch couldn't deny it, and Clovis had lacked both the motive and the air of someone responsible for that kind of murder. Soon, the only less likely suspects in their family had been Euphie and Odysseus, and Lelouch had let the matter rest until he had received the power of Geass and been faced with the decision of either sticking to the original plan and operating much less efficiently than he could have or founding the Order of the Black Knights and somehow keeping Clovis from giving any incriminating information to the Emperor.

Considering it had been right after the Shinjuku incident and that he had thought his best friend dead because of Clovis' little pet project, it was not surprising that he had decided to first determine if his brother had anything to do with Marianne vi Britannia's murder, being more certain than ever that the answer he would find was an affirmative one. He had been fully prepared to take his revenge – after all, that had always been half of his goal, and with his newfound weapon, it wouldn't have been that much of a problem to stay in control of Area 11.

So he had gone straight up to Clovis and told him about his Geass, and that he knew that someone in the court was responsible. Lelouch's face had remained impassive the whole time, the gun in his hand completely motionless while he watched his brother's reaction, and when he was done talking, Clovis had said, "You're going to use it on me to find out if I know something."

It hadn't been a question.

"Yes."

Lelouch had expected fear. Anger. Panic. Anything that would only have served to confirm his suspicions. But Clovis had simply replied, "I see," in a calm voice before casually shrugging his shoulders. "Well, go ahead."

"What?"

"There's no other way to convince you, is there? So... go ahead. It's not as if I could stop you even if I wanted to."

"...True."

Maybe Lelouch wouldn't have done it if he had known that Geass only worked once on a person, because he would have preferred to still have some measure of control over his brother. But he hadn't known, and so he had learned that all Clovis knew was that Cornelia and Schneizel were much closer to the core of the matter than either of them.

The whole thing had ended with Clovis offering him his assistance once more, and Lelouch promising him a slow, gruesome death should he ever dare betray him. He still had no idea how Clovis had managed to turn that into sexual innuendo.

Afterwards, and when he had found out that Suzaku was still alive, things had returned to normal between them - or at least, as normal as they could get, and Clovis' annoying little guilt trip when he found out about certain details concerning the incident in Shinjuku excepted -, and the events of that day had only been mentioned once between them. At that time, Lelouch had casually asked his brother if he never feared that he might have used his Geass to make him go along with his plans, more out of a twisted, sadistic kind of curiosity than anything else.

When Clovis answered negatively without a second of hesitation, apparently entirely unconcerned, Lelouch's surprise must have been evident, because his brother had simply given him an amused smile and said, "Honestly, little brother - you, making me stalk you on purpose? Somehow, I don't think so. Besides, you would only have been wasting your time. After all...-"

The next moment, Clovis had been behind him, his mouth only millimeters from his ear and his voice a purr that made Lelouch shiver as the hot breath tickled his skin, "-if you wanted me to be your your willing slave, you could just have said so."

Needless to say, Lelouch had never come back to that question again.

x x x

"Do you have to return to the military this afternoon?"

"No... Cecile made me take the day off."

"Good." Lelouch pressed closer to the warm body next to him. He had long since decided he liked the woman who kept reminding his best friend that there was a life outside of the Britannian army. Obviously, someone had to, and although Lelouch did his best, he didn't have nearly as much leverage as he'd liked.

He appreciated the assistance – even if he had only met that Cecile person once, and even if she _had_ been attempting to poison him with her strange cooking that time. He didn't think he'd ever get the taste of freshly baked sand cake filled with tofu off his tongue.

Suzaku shifted in his arms. "I can't believe you made me skip classes."

"Why?" He licked the Japanese boy's earlobe, and Suzaku shivered slightly. "It's not like you are missing anything of importance."

"Not everyone is a genius, Lelouch."

"No." Lelouch's tongue trailed down Suzaku's throat, taking in the slightly salty taste. He quickly nuzzled the tanned neck before continuing, "But not everyone has a genius to tutor them, either. You'd already be ahead of the curriculum if you were a little less concerned with your job."

"Ah..." Suzaku moaned quietly when Lelouch bit down on his shoulder. "It's not like I can constantly take time off."

"Can't you?" Lelouch was nibbling the crook of his friend's neck now. "I'm sure Clovis wouldn't have any objections, and if the governor doesn't mind, why should anyone else?"

Of course, Suzaku wasn't thrilled with that suggestion. "You can't just always go to Prince Clovis on my behalf - you already got me into Ashford!"

"So? You said you were happy being part of this school, didn't you?"

Suzaku turned around to face him. "That's not what this is about, Lelouch!"

Lelouch sat up, raising an inquiring eyebrow at his friend. "No? Then what _is_ this about, Suzaku?"

"I don't want any special favors," Suzaku declared with conviction. "I joined the military to change something, not to have someone relieve me of my duties whenever it suits me!"

"Oh yes, because you don't work twice as much as any other soldier already. It's not like the _Lancelot_ is frequently needed. What good is sitting around all day?"

Suzaku deflated somewhat at that, but he didn't back down. "Lloyd still needs to do some testing."

Lelouch snorted. "Earl Asplund _always_ needs to do some testing. The man is obsessed."

"Maybe. But it wouldn't be right to let him down like that. And I can't..."

"Can't what?"

Suzaku sighed. "Can't we leave it at that? Please? I don't want to argue."

Lelouch huffed, but lay back down. Since he still hadn't come up with anything, there was just no point in continuing the conversation. They'd had similar discussions countless times before, and they had never them gotten anywhere.

Ever since Lelouch had discovered that Suzaku was the pilot of the white Knightmare that had almost ruined his plans on the very day he had set them into motion, he knew that something was seriously wrong with his friend - he had changed. And to think that he'd had the nerve of trying to hide his involvement in Lloyd's project (which also happened to be sponsored by Schneizel, but at least it seemed that his older half-brother wasn't doing much more than observing _Camelot_ at the moment) until Lelouch had finally decided to approach him on the matter...

Suzaku would probably never have told him if he hadn't found out through his position as inofficial governor of Area 11, and that was what unsettled him most. Nothing fueled the fire of Lelouch's frustration with his friend's refusal to leave Britannia to rot more than knowing that Suzaku felt the need to keep things from him. Not that he wasn't returning the favor, but at least he had been _trying_ to create a scenario that allowed complete honesty. Still was, in fact, but it didn't seem like he would be successful any time soon.

Suzaku gave him a warm smile and leaned in to kiss him, and Lelouch closed his eyes. Staying angry was hard enough as it was, with the responsible party lying next to him devoid of any clothing – he didn't need that far too tender gaze to add to the challenge.

x x x

"Well... I'm glad I didn't knock."

Both Lelouch and Suzaku jumped at the familiar voice.

"M-miss President!" Suzaku exclaimed, while Lelouch just stared at the blonde girl in mortification.

One should think that being almost killed by terrorists would change a person, but after Milly had been released from hospital after the Hotel Incident where she had been shot in the shoulder while pushing Nina out of harm's way not long before Lelouch had left for Britannia, she had been exactly the same as before.

It seemed that some people stayed the same no matter what, and Lelouch wasn't so sure if he was still glad for that when Milly remained standing in the doorway, completely unashamed and shaking her head exaggeratedly.

"Oh my. Shirley will be devastated. But it _is_ kind of hot... maybe she will see that, too, eventually."

"You... you..."

"Don't worry, Lelouch!" She winked at him. "I'll keep this to myself. But you should tell her, you know?" With that, the unexpected visitor turned, and simply walked out of the room again.

Lelouch stared after her. He could have sworn he'd heard her sigh wistfully and murmur something about all good-looking men being gay and "sad truth" before the door finally closed behind her.

He and Suzaku turned to look at each other, and his best friend seemed as bewildered and embarrassed as he himself felt.

"Well," Lelouch said eventually. "At least she didn't turn it into an event."

"You know, Lelouch... this school is kind of creepy."

x x x

When Lelouch had told him to keep Jeremiah and anyone else he might be fond of far away from the main battlefield, Clovis had known that _Narita_ would not end nicely.

Now that he was seeing the results with his own eyes, though, he couldn't help but stare in shock. He didn't know if it was because he was as much responsible for those soldiers' deaths as Lelouch, with the the difference that he had sent them there to fight a battle they had never been supposed to win, or because his little brother had killed those people so readily, so deliberately.

Clovis knew that war was always messy, but that was why he usually stayed far away from anything resembling a battlefield. To think that Lelouch was standing in the middle of one, drenching the earth with blood in anticipation of victory... it made him physically sick.

Clovis shuddered, and thought that he had never understood his brother's hatred for their father better than at this moment, when he realized that what he was looking at might only be the beginning, and that even if Charles zi Britannia ever found out what he had made one of his most promising children do, he wouldn't care.

x x x

Lelouch had been satisfied with how his plans were progressing. The appearance of the Lancelot during the fight had been a slight setback, and knowing what C.C. had done to its pilot had caused him some distress, but there was nothing Lelouch could have done to prevent the incident after having told Clovis not to unnecessarily interfere with Lloyd's little project. He didn't regret his decision, and as Suzaku had apparently come out fine in the end while the rest of the operation went over without a hitch, he had decided not to dwell on it.

Getting the Six Houses of Kyoto to support his cause had also been surprisingly easy, and revealing his identity to Kirihara had obviously been the right thing to do, despite his forced return to Britannia all those years ago. The man didn't seem to doubt his desire to destroy the country that had discarded him and his sister like replaceable tools.

Yes, Lelouch had been perfectly happy with how things had been going for his rebellion.

But now, when Shirley's lips pressed down on his own with a desperation that he had never expected to witness in one of his friends from school - when the usually cheerful girl clung to him like he was the last thing keeping her alive - he felt like someone had emptied a bucket of ice-cold water above his head.

He didn't know what he was supposed to think or what he should do, only that there was a horrible feeling clawing at his stomach, and that this wasn't what he had wanted. So he pressed her closer to himself, closing his eyes and reciprocating the kiss, his mental processes coming to a halt as his guts continued to churn and it seemed as if the guilt was going to swallow him.


	4. Art Week

**Chapter Title:** Art Week

**Rating:** M

**Additional Warnings**: The randomness returns!  
...And it has gotten the fluff wet.

* * *

**Pleasures of Art  
- Chapter 4**

.

.

"It was about time," Clovis said when his brother finally bothered to contact him some days after the incident at Narita. "You know, you could really show up here again some time. This whole thing is ruining my image – why do I always have to be the bad guy, anyway? Honestly, driving the last survivors of the Japan Liberation Front into a corner and watching them blow themselves to pieces. That's just-"

"Clovis."

"What?" He _hated_ being interrupted.

"Has anything unusual happened?"

"Besides you actually _calling_ me, you mean? Not that I'm aware of. Why do you ask?"

"It doesn't matter. Just tell Jeremiah to keep a close eye on any information delivered to the military and other institutions." It sounded as if his brother was going to end the call right there.

"It would help if you were a bit more precise, you know."

"I told you, it doesn't matter. He wouldn't be able to overlook something like that." A pause. Then, "Clovis..." Lelouch actually sounded hesitant rather than rude there. "You're... good with women, aren't you?"

"Why, Lelouch, I never thought you would ask me for The Talk! But it's very responsible of you, and of course I will be more than happy to help you out. You see, women have-"

"I'm serious!"

Clovis opened his mouth to continue annoying his favorite little brother, but changed his mind when he noticed something strange in the boy's tone. Thinking about it, Lelouch usually wouldn't call him directly. He was too paranoid. "What is it?"

"If... if a woman who used to like you had found a valid reason to hate you and managed to acquire incriminating information about you, but did not approach anyone with it yet... what would the most likely reason for that be?"

"Well... maybe she wants you to apologize?"

"I don't think so."

"Blackmail you?"

A short pause, as if his brother was actually considering this. "Unlikely," he eventually said.

Clovis blinked. "Uhm... maybe she isn't sure what to do, then? It really depends on the woman, and I don't make it a habit to give any of the beautiful ladies I associate myself with reason to despise me, so I'm afraid I can't help you much there. How about-" He broke off. Lelouch had hung up on him.

This was not like his brother at all. Well, the hanging up part was, but the rest of the conversation just didn't fit.

Clovis wondered if he should be worried.

x x x

So that was the reason.

Lelouch had known that his friend had changed. He had known that something must have happened to cause that change. However, he would never have guessed...

Looking back, the evidence was there. It was subtle, almost imperceptible if one didn't know what they were looking for, but there nonetheless. He should have realized it sooner.

But he hadn't – hadn't noticed the sheer gravity of the issue beyond its consequences, hadn't made the connection between Suzaku's strange behavior back then and the nonsensical philosophy he had adopted now. And he couldn't change that, even though it felt as if he had been negligent somehow, as if he should have known.

And perhaps he _should_ have. It might be true that seven years ago, things had been to chaotic and too tightly interwoven for him to figure out what was wrong with his friend immediately; but after witnessing to what lengths Suzaku had gone in order to protect a system that had crushed his home and subjugated his people, after seeing just how much of a different person his friend had become, the truth shouldn't have continued to escape him.

It had, though, and Lelouch knew that he couldn't afford to dwell on what could have been – life had taught him early that things rarely went the way they should have, and there was no use in crying over spilled milk. He knew _now_, and that had to be enough. He had learned that what really drove his friend was guilt, and he could go from there.

Still... the expression on Suzaku's face when Mao had revealed his secrets that day was hard to forget. To think that his friend had carried this burden with him for seven years, to think that he had been seeking death all this time...

"Hey, Lelouch! Stop moving your head!"

Lelouch looked up – first at Rivalz, who was waving his pencil at him in a clearly reproachful manner, and then at the two dozen other students surrounding him, most of whom were looking down at their sketch-books with brows furrowed in concentration.

"A-ah... sorry." He rested his chin on the back of his hand again, trying to adopt the thoughtful expression he supposed he must have had until only a moment ago.

"No, no. You were more hunched over."

"Like this?"

"No, that's too much. Look up a little."

"Now?"

"Geez!" Rivalz exclaimed and got up from his chair. "You looked completely different before!"

When the secretary of the Student Council grabbed his head and pulled his lips upwards into an overly friendly grin, Lelouch thought this was ridiculous. When the result didn't please the rest of the class and they, too, started touching his face and twisting his features as if he was some kind of pitiful clown at a children's birthday party, he silently cursed them and vowed bloody revenge.

An Art Week for the sake of it? Yeah, right. His brother must have known that Lelouch would be the one to suffer.

To hell with logic, or the fact that Clovis probably had no idea that even at school, there were people who lived to torment him – as soon as the last remainders of the Japan Liberation Front were dealt with, the idiot would pay.

Speaking of idiots...

_What the hell _was Suzaku doing with his pencil there?

x x x

If there was one thing besides money and cameras Clovis had more than enough of at his disposal in Area 11, it was time.

And since even the threat of boredom permanently hanging over his head wasn't enough to make him more prone to taking some of the politics off his little brother's and Jeremiah Gottwald's hands, he spent his days mostly looking for ways to kill it.

Painting was one such way, but one should not try to force creativity, and so, from time to time, he had to give this particular passion of his a rest. Sex was another possibility, but being constantly chased by reporters had its disadvantages – they would follow him into the bedroom if he let them. Not that he could blame them for having taste, and that one journalist woman _had_ been pretty good, but usually, those people's intentions weren't _quite_ so convenient for him, and more often than not, dealing with them in favor of more private matters just wasn't worth the trouble, be it by convincing them that there were things much more interesting one could do in a bedroom than practicing work-related voyeurism or by threatening to have their heads if they overstepped their boundaries. Actually, some of those reporters were so annoyingly persistent that he would just let them film all the dirty little details to their sad little hearts' content if he didn't have an image to preserve.

The three of his favorite pastimes (well, favorite pastimes after pestering his favorite little brother) this left him with were arranging exquisite parties, designing aesthetic buildings and preparing dramatic speeches. Like painting, all those amusements required talent and creativity, but it was a different kind of creativity, and if you combined them, it was likely that the result would entertain you at least as long as the preparations kept you occupied.

And so Clovis had no need to worry about impending boredom as he strolled leisurely through the large museum of art that had only recently been finalized. His oldest pet project in Area 11 might already be entering into its final stage, but that didn't mean the entertainment it provided him with would be over any time soon. The impressive building would be opened to the public in the evening, and that was when the real fun started.

It also gave him the perfect excuse not to attend an execution that would be foiled anyway. Let Lelouch deal with the terrorists – he seemed to be quite fond of them. Clovis didn't feel bad for having a good time while his little brother was out there risking his neck for yet another of his outrageous plans. It was Lelouch's own fault for being so god damn reckless all the time, and it wasn't as if Clovis would lose any sleep over it if he finally managed to blow himself up this time instead of the original target. After all, his brother had not exactly gone out of his way to discuss this properly with him, and no one could hold him responsible if something-

Whom was he kidding? If something happened to Lelouch while he was merrily talking about one painting or another, he would never forgive himself.

But he would only get in the way if he tried to interfere, so as always, Clovis ignored the nagging feeling in his stomach and concentrated on an especially impressive painting he had spotted. It depicted scenery – a modest, but comfortable looking house placed in front of an idyllic river. It seemed to be either spring or summer, and the small hayfield surrounding both river and building was specked with red and yellow flowers.

"Excuse me, your Highness," a voice politely interrupted him. "But according to our investigations, the painter is to one quarter an Eleven."

"Is that so?" Clovis asked, not even turning around.

It was a shame, really. Clovis didn't mind Numbers – how could he, when his little brother had an Eleven for a lover? As far as he was concerned, looking down on those people was nothing more than politics – nothing more than Britannia's way of making sure they stayed subdued and didn't give them any trouble – and he had always left it to other people to enforce Britannia's supremacy, even when he had still been caught up entirely in his own matters and seen no reason to question the way things were.

He had to keep up appearances, though, and this meant that even though he hated having to let politics become involved in art to the point where talent didn't matter anymore, he would have to look for another appealing piece of work he could pick as the winner.

"Your Highness?"

Haughtily, Clovis glanced over his shoulder. "There is nothing wrong with me looking at it, is there?"

"O-of course not, your Highness. I merely-"

Clovis snorted softly. "Commoners," he said, well aware that the man whose face was now reddening in either shame or anger was indeed a noble, and made his way over to the next painting.

There was a reason why most of the wealthy men in Area 11 didn't particularly like him - and it wasn't just that their wives usually were a little too fond of him.

Back home, a fact well-known to the whole court was that Clovis la Britannia was not only a ladies' man – he was also an insufferable snob too much in love with himself to show courtesy to anyone who didn't meet his standards. He had gained that reputation when there had still been people around stupid enough to speak ill of the late Marianne vi Britannia behind not-so closed doors and never bothered to get rid of it, even after Cornelia had efficiently silenced even the most suicidal of calumniators.

It was just too much fun watching the lesser nobles desperately try to stay in his good graces... and incredibly refreshing to have such a convenient excuse whenever he was in no mood to be polite.

Speaking of his sister's part in teaching the court why it is not wise to speak ill of the dead, Clovis was still surprised his mother had been amongst those who survived the wrath of the Witch of Britannia relatively unscathed - because although Gabriella la Britannia had her virtues, subtle or especially fond of the deceased Fifth Imperial Consort she was not.

What his mother _did_ approve of was the finesse with which Clovis managed to constantly increase his popularity even while casually making enemies where it suited him, and since the women loved seeing him turn from 'disdainfully aloof' to 'gracious and charming' as soon as he noticed them, she had never complained to him about his occasional lack of conduct.

And so whenever there was a male noble who didn't even do so much as grimace at the mention of the Third Prince, it was safe to assume that either he was a particularly witty conversationalist, or had never had the pleasure of speaking to the governor of Area 11 in person.

Either that, or he was breathtakingly stunning.

Clovis could be shallow.

x x x

"That's easy. You just put a frog's leg on a string and-"

"A frog?" Nunnally asked surprised. "You mean the kind that goes 'croak, croak'?"

"That's right! Even though in Japan, we say they go 'kero, kero, kero'."

"Kero, kero?"

"Yep, 'kero, kero'." Suzaku's casual imitation of noises made by an amphibian soon had Nunnally giggling, and he laughed along with her. Lelouch noted that both sounded completely carefree.

He had always liked watching his sister and best friend interact. Back when they were younger, it had comforted him to see that even after all that had happened, they could still be happy this way - to know that Nunnally could still smile this freely. And he supposed that hadn't really changed... even now, it comforted him to have evidence that despite the guilt, his friend could still be happy, and to see that like he himself, Nunnally still felt so much at ease around Suzaku - even after all those years.

But observing the two also left Lelouch with a bitter taste in his mouth. He desperately wanted to preserve this, to make Suzaku his sister's Knight so that even if something were to happen to him, there would still be someone he trusted by Nunnally's side to keep her safe as well as happy.

He would gladly have given up their love for this. If it meant they could become the center of each other's universe and remain happy no matter what had happened in the past, and regardless of how Lelouch's plans for the future turned out, there was nothing he wouldn't be willing to sacrifice.

But he knew that as long as Suzaku was his enemy nearly as much as he was his friend, as long as he was the pilot of the white Knightmare that had stood in the way of Lelouch's goals almost from the very beginning and refused to let go of his guilt-fueled idealism, it couldn't be.

And so he schemed.

"What is it?" his friend inquired once he noticed that something was up.

"Suzaku," Lelouch said, "do you want to come over this weekend? You have been rather busy these days, and I'm sure Nunnally would appreciate it."

For a moment, Suzaku seemed perplexed by the question, but then he smiled. "Of course, if it's all right with you. I'm sorry I haven't been around so much lately..."

"It's fine. We will be staying at the government building; I have to clear some things up."

"At the government building?" Suzaku's initial surprise was quickly replaced by discomfort. "I'm not sure... I don't want to cause any trouble."

"You won't." Suzaku still seemed hesitant. "It was fine last time, wasn't it?"

"Well, yes... but Prince Clovis wasn't really around then, was he?"

Only because he was busy engaging in voyeurism, Lelouch thought, still not at all happy about his brother having overheard them and god knew what else. Out loud, he said, "He won't mind."

The fact that he probably wasn't lying bothered him.

His friend opened his mouth to reply, but wasn't quite fast enough.

"Suzaku!" a female sounding voice interrupted their conversation before even a single word had left his lips. Lelouch looked up to see Cecile Croomy running towards them. "Lloyd said-"

She broke off when she came to a halt only a few meters before them and noticed Lelouch. "Oh. Excuse me, your Highness," she said, sounding a bit embarrassed, but not nearly as formal as during their first meeting. Lelouch wondered how often he would have to risk food poisoning if he wanted to reach first name basis. "I didn't mean to interrupt. It's just that Lloyd said it was important-"

"It's quite all right," Lelouch assured her. "In fact, we just finished."

"Did something happen?" Suzaku asked, obviously concerned.

Cecile turned to him. "I don't have all the details yet, but it seems the Lancelot is needed. I'm sorry for bothering you during your free time, but-"

"It's all right", Suzaku said, but then hesitated.

Lelouch smiled at him. "I told you that guy won't show up again. Just go – we'll be fine. But you're coming, aren't you?"

"I... yes."

"Be careful," Nunnally said.

"I will – see you!"

Lelouch watched the peculiar woman and his best friend leave and wondered how Suzaku would react when he found out that _Kyoshirou Toudou_ was scheduled to be executed this afternoon, and that he would be the one trying to ensure that everything went over smoothly. If that didn't throw him off-balance enough to make capturing the _Lancelot_ a convenient byproduct of the operation, Lelouch would simply stick to the original plan - but he could always try.

x x x

In the end, Lelouch regretted his decision of leaving things up to chance for once, although he couldn't possibly have predicted the outcome. Freeing Toudou had been easy enough, and he had made sure that he would be able to deal with the Lancelot one way or the other.

But cutting the cockpit open in front of the cameras hadn't been part of the plan, and it was only a matter of time before the pilot's identity would be all over the news channels and the Internet. Unwittingly, he had given the Japanese ready to submit to Britannia something to cling to, and even though it wasn't nearly as strong a symbol as as it would have been had he made Suzaku Nunnally's official Knight, it was still not helpful to his cause.

It would be futile to try and prevent the inevitable consequences from happening, though, and despite being far from favorable for the Order of the Black Knights, the development was not a fatal one. So Lelouch took the blunder in stride, deciding to simply concentrate on his plans for the upcoming weekend.

He should have known fate wouldn't let him of the hook so easily.

x x x

"Get the hell _off me_."

"Aw, but Lelouch, I missed you!"

"Well, the sentiment isn't mutual - get off!"

"Make me," Clovis retorted cheerfully and hugged him even tighter.

Lelouch shrugged his shoulders, trying to shake the annoyingly persistent offender off, but not needing to see his brother's face to know that Clovis was entirely unimpressed by his efforts.

"God damn- get the hell away from me!"

"You know that a high blood pressure can lead to heart failure, don't you? I think we went over this already, but might I repeat that you need to get that stick out of your-" Clovis broke off, making a thoughtful noise. "Then again, maybe that's the problem. Say, when was the last time you had a-"

"Do. Not. Finish. That. Sentence."

"But Lelouch, sexuality is the most natural thing in the world! We should be able to talk about your lover's inability to properly satisfy you."

"My lover's _what_?"

"Or is it that you don't switch often enough? I know you are a control freak, little brother, but really, sometimes you need to just-"

"I assure you," Lelouch interrupted his brother through gritted teeth, "if there is someone with a serious problem in this room, it's not me."

"Why, yes, how adorable of you to notice. The severe lack of sexual intercourse is indeed getting to me. But don't feel bad - cuddling you almost makes up for it."

"Let go."

"Can we have sex if I do?"

"Definitely not."

"Then no. I like randomly glomping you from behind and refusing to unhand you again."

Lelouch was starting to get a headache. It wasn't that he hadn't expected a greeting like this – after more than half a decade, you got used to obnoxious relatives throwing themselves at you at every chance they got. Usually, though, his brother wasn't quite this... clingy.

Lelouch struggled against the arms around his chest and even went so far as to throw himself backwards against his brother to make him lose his balance, but Clovis didn't relent, merely intensifying the one-sided embrace. And even though his brother's hold on him never got quite tight enough to be painful, Lelouch didn't appreciate being rendered immobile and having someone comfortably rest their chin on his shoulder as if he was some kind of exclusive cushion.

"Now, now, little brother, no need to act like an uncivilized brute. I'm just happy to see you - there's nothing wrong with that, is there?"

In reply, Lelouch kicked his brother's shin.

"Be nice," Clovis admonished, but actually sounded as if he was talking about the weather. "If you promise not to kill me, I'll let you go."

"The moment you step back," Lelouch said darkly, "I will go tell C.C. you would make a tasty pizza, and I will laugh while she takes a butcher knife and turns your insides out."

"How crude of you," Clovis commented, and Lelouch knew it was a bad sign when even the mention of the green-haired immortal didn't seem to faze his brother. "Maybe I should just keep you like this until your legendary lack of stamina causes you to faint from exhaustion. On the other hand, just saying that gives me ideas, and we wouldn't want to let the tea get cold, would we?"

"I swear, Clovis, if you don't-" Lelouch's threat was cut off when soft lips settled on his neck and started nibbling merrily. He knew he shouldn't have changed out of his school uniform – who cared that he might have drawn attention to himself wearing something so distinctive around the government building? If you had family members with no sense of shame and a libido worse than that of a bonobo, collar shirts were invaluable.

He wondered what had possessed him to pick a plain black T-shirt instead. He should at least have had the sense to leave on his jacket even after entering the building - _especially_ after entering the building.

"Stop it," Lelouch ordered, but even though his voice didn't waver, he was well aware he didn't sound particularly commanding. It would probably have helped if the teeth delicately grazing his skin felt more aggravating and less pleasant.

Clovis didn't react, merely making his way up Lelouch's jugular and sucking lightly every now and then.

Lelouch shifted slightly when he noticed that the hold on his torso had loosened, but ultimately remained where he was. He told himself it was because attempting to get away was pointless, but the excuse sounded poor even in his head – he had never been one to quit before even doing so much as try, and he knew very well that if he managed to appear determined enough, he could at least put an end to the assault on his collar area rather quickly.

Eventually, his brother let his mouth travel downwards again, and when Clovis carefully bit down on the crook of his neck, Lelouch couldn't prevent a low moan from escaping his throat.

"See?" Clovis said in the very same heartbeat and released him. "No need to get mad."

Lelouch turned around and narrowed his eyes at his brother, ignoring the tickling sensation on his neck and all other bodily signals that told him he wouldn't have minded letting this go on for just a bit longer, and making sure that the look in his eyes promised nothing but retribution and eons of excruciating pain.

Predictably, Clovis didn't seem to notice.

"Tea?" his brother asked, a bright smile on his face.

There was a reason Lelouch hated his family.

x x x

"Don't tell me you're planning to skip school until the end of the week."

On the other side of the table, Lelouch took a sip of his tea and raised an eyebrow at him. "Considering how _terribly_ you've missed me, I didn't think you would mind."

"Education is important," Clovis recited, and his brother snorted. "You will miss Art Week."

"Watch the tears of agony stream down my face."

"Oh, I knew it," Clovis lamented. "You will stay a grumpy philistine for all eternity." He dramatically grabbed his chest. "Forgive me, Lelouch, for I have failed you."

"You _really_ like hearing your own voice, don't you?" Clovis thought that was rich, coming from Lelouch of all people.

"Oh, what will Nunnally say..."

"Stop being an idiot."

"I will never be able to face her again. The shame... the disgrace... I will leave this country and become a monk on the other side of the world. No, a hermit. I will spend the rest of my life repenting, even though I know that nothing could possibly make up for my negligence."

"This is embarrassing."

"I know!" Clovis cried theatrically. "I'm so sorry, Lelouch!"

"I heard you the first time."

"But Lelouch," Clovis wailed. "You're a socially retarded grumpy prude with no taste whatsoever, and it's my fault!"

Lelouch put down his cup. "This is ridiculous," he said and got up. "Tell me when you're done making a fool of yourself."

"Oh, the shame-"

Clovis watched his brother slam the door and smiled blithely.

With Lelouch around, life was fun.

x x x

"No."

"But Lelouch..."

"No. Now go away."

"You'll freeze to death."

"I don't care." At least that would mean he didn't have to deal with annoying morons anymore. "Leave."

"But Lelouch, it's cold, and it's raining, and it was only a suggestion!"

"A suggestion? Last time, my answer was pretty clear, and you did it anyway!"

"Well, I was bored..."

"I don't care! I will stay here, and I will not open the door. If you want to paint me, you will have to use your imagination."

"...Did you really just say that? Because I thought my imagination was the problem."

"Oh, shut up! Painting me with Guinevere was bad and replacing her with Odysseus disgusting, but putting me there with _Schneizel and his aide_? You went too far, Clovis, and I will not stand for this again. And if that means I have to stay here the whole night so that you can't sneak into my room and stalk me while I sleep – which, by the way, is _not_ normal – then I will do that."

"Aw, come on, little brother. You know I would have painted you with Euphie, but Cornelia would have had my head."

"That's not the point!"

Clovis sighed audibly. "Fine. But let me at least give you your jacket-"

"What part of 'get lost' is it you don't understand?"

Another sigh. "All right, no jacket. Just... don't spend the night there?"

Lelouch didn't answer. Only many minutes later did he turn around to make sure that his brother had indeed left the luxurious room connected to the balcony.

Then he crossed his arms in front of his chest and stepped away from the door. With a last suspicious glance towards the half-opened window next to the handle, he went up to the balustrade to watch the dark clouds gathering above, having no doubt that by the time he came here again, Clovis would have replaced all the doors in the building leading onto balconies with ones that couldn't be locked from the outside, but not really caring.

He simply enjoyed the long overdue moment of calm, even as the rain continued to pour down onto his head.

x x x

"You could just have locked your room."

"Your point being?"

"Don't tell me you remained out there the whole night simply out of principle."

Lelouch, arms folded in front of his chest, glared at his brother. "So what if I did?"

"You're shivering." A pause, an appraising look. Then, "And you look like a drowned cat."

Lelouch wanted to seriously hurt his brother, but managed to merely raise his eyebrows at him. "And that concerns you because...?"

"Because," Clovis said and threw a towel over Lelouch's shoulders, "it's a pitiful sight."

Lelouch snorted, but for once didn't object when Clovis put an arm around him and guided him down the corridor to the nearest bathroom.

"Take a warm shower," his brother told him. "No, better, take a hot bath. I'll get you something dry to wear."

Lelouch was in no mood to do be complaisant, but he _was_ freezing, and the thought of a hot bath quickly won against his foul mood.

Which said a lot, because it was one heck of a foul mood.

Lelouch wondered if his brother took him for a fool. It might not be entirely untrue that he could be stubborn at times, but spending the coldest night in a long time on a balcony with nothing more than a rain drenched T-shirt covering his upper-body was not his idea of a good time. After barely an hour, he had decided to quietly return to his chambers and, once he arrived there, make sure that he would have his privacy for the rest of the week.

However, life had always hated him. And he would sooner die or pretend to have thrown some kind of childish fit than admit that the god damned lock had turned against him.

Defeated by a door...

Clovis would think it was hilarious.

x x x

"You're still shivering," Clovis informed him after having placed the promised clothing on a chair not too far from the bathtub. "You're not getting a fever, are you?"

A warm hand settled on his forehead. Annoyed, Lelouch turned away from it – so pointedly that the movement barely caused ripples in the water.

"Hm, well, you're not burning up yet," his brother diagnosed.

"Good. So now that you know I'm not dying, you can leave. A bit of privacy while I'm trying to take a bath isn't too much to ask, is it?"

"What for? It's not like I have never seen you naked."

"Do I need to justify myself for not being an exhibitionist now?"

"In fact, you do. You should be more comfortable with your body-"

"Oh yes, start analyzing my psyche because I have some decency left. Have you ever heard of the term 'nymphomania'?"

Clovis beamed at him. "Are you saying you want to have sex?"

Briefly, Lelouch considered drowning himself. But then he decided that his brother was too much of a sadistic bastard to simply stand by and let him die in peace, so he grabbed the bottle with the shampoo instead and settled for ignoring his sex-obsessed relative.

It worked for about ten seconds. Then his brother took the toiletry item out of his hands.

"Let me!"

Lelouch wanted to hit him.

"What the hell do you think you're-" But the cool liquid was already touching his scalp, and Lelouch knew that considering Clovis' current mood, fighting him on this would be far more trouble than it was worth.

"I'm not an invalid," he reminded his brother instead, not hiding his irritation, but also making no move to get rid of the hands in his hair.

"Of course not," Clovis said, patting his head while making himself comfortable on the floor behind him, and sounding much like someone humoring a small child claiming that Santa was real.

Lelouch glared at him.

"You're so cute when you start going all homicidal on me," his brother declared and nudged Lelouch's head until he relented and faced the remarkably unornamental wall on the other side of the room again. "Just lean back and concentrate on regaining a body temperature higher than that of a corpse. It's enough that you _look_ like a vampire – you don't need to feel like one, too."

"A vampire?" Lelouch asked. Where the hell had that come from?

"Come on little brother, it's so cliché it's not funny. Deadly pale, hiding in dark corners, refusing to eat garlic-"

"I had school the next day; it's called decorum."

"-making females faint left and right-"

"Oh yes, because that doesn't run in the family."

"-showing an unprecedented lack of physical strength-"

"Since when is that a vampire cliché?"

"-refusing to have sex in public places-"

"How many vampires have you met, and in what asylum are they located now?"

"-not to mention your aversion towards long wooden objects and penetration. You have to admit, it's suspicious." Before Lelouch could react, a finger had pushed itself past his lips and between his teeth, probing his incisors.

When Lelouch finally processed what his brother was doing, he bit down.

Hard.

Clovis yelped and hurriedly pulled out his finger. "All right, no sticking body parts into your mouth without explicit permission. Got it."

'Exasperation' was an understatement for the emotion coursing through Lelouch.

However, when Clovis made no attempt to continue his ridiculous talk about mythological creatures and sex and started massaging his scalp instead, gently rubbing in the cool gel in refreshing silence, Lelouch had trouble clinging to his anger.

He hadn't had someone washing his hair in a very long time, and he didn't even remember what it had been like back then, but this was undeniably a pleasant sensation. It felt like someone lightly tickling and caressing his skin at once - strangely calming - and Lelouch couldn't help but close his eyes, relaxing ever so slightly against the skilled fingers threading through his hair.

x x x

When the ever present tension started draining from Lelouch after barely a few minutes, Clovis was both surprised and pleased, and even though he had an inkling that the warm water helped, too, he knew his brother wouldn't be this easily placated if he was truly mad at him. Even more importantly, Lelouch would never let his guard down so readily and to the point where he seemed almost vulnerable if he still mistrusted him; and although it would be a fallacy to assume that this automatically meant his brother _trusted_ him, it was closer than most people came by a long shot.

Clovis felt honored. And incredibly smug, but that was perfectly justified. After all, it hadn't even been two months ago that Lelouch wouldn't have put it past him to be involved in his mother's murder - in fact, he had seemed pretty damn sure of it at the time. If Clovis hadn't known his brother was so paranoid that he would look a gift horse in the mouth just to make sure it wasn't a Trojan one, he would have been hurt. The way it was, he couldn't even say he had been surprised – the first thing you learned by being around Lelouch was that the line between sensible precaution and a severe case of persecution mania was finer than most people would think.

It made the subtle, but definite changes in their relationship since then all the more precious.

Clovis took his time applying the shampoo to Lelouch's head, making sure to only use his fingertips to massage the warm skin and idly playing with soft raven locks from time to time. His brother didn't seem to mind, lying completely still in the only gradually cooling water and almost imperceptibly leaning into the touch in what Clovis was pretty sure was the _lelouch_ equivalent of purring contently.

He let his hands trail down his brother's sides and shoulders, slowly moving his fingers over ivory skin until he reached slender hips. Arriving there, he casually let one hand move upwards again while the other slipped into the deliciously tempting space between Lelouch's thighs, slowly making its way towards his brother's crotch.

A hand grabbed his wrist.

"Stop."

Clovis took note of the almost matter-of-fact tone underlying the command and the surprising strength behind the grip and drew back his arm.

"All right," he said agreeably. His brother let go, and Clovis went back to harmlessly toying with strands of foam covered black hair.

If Lelouch really wasn't in the mood, then he wouldn't push him. Fun as annoying his brother might be, being able to pet him like this held no less appeal to it, and it was by far the rarer treat. He wouldn't ruin the tranquil atmosphere by ungratefully passing up the offered inch and trying to take an ell instead.

Contrary to what people believed, Clovis _could_ appreciate what he was given - he just preferred to be given a lot more than the people doing the giving usually intended to and had few qualms about being glaringly obvious about it.

For his little brother, though, he could make an exception.

And it didn't even take him much self-control. The truth was, he _really_ liked Lelouch's hair.


	5. Nightly Issues

**Chapter Title**: Nightly Issues

**Rating:** M

**Additional Warnings:** Hot liquids. Randomness. Random hot liquids. Actually, it's not as kinky as it sounds... but there's always Clovis.  
...And look, it's a pun!

* * *

**Pleasures of Art  
- Chapter 5**

.

.

"Are you tired?"

"It's barely past sunrise."

"That's not an answer. You _did_ spend the night on a balcony. Somehow, I can't imagine you curling up on the cold wet floor just to catch some sleep."

Lelouch stepped out into the corridor and drew up his shoulders in a careless shrug. "I'm fine."

Clovis gave him a scrutinizing look. "You know, I would feel better if you lay down for a bit regardless. I will admit that your immune system is quite the fortress, but discretion might just be the better part of valor in this case, and it's not like you have any pressing matters to attend to. It's still four days until you have to get Nunnally from Ashford."

Lelouch didn't answer immediately – he had to admit, his brother had a point there, as uncommon an occurrence as that might be. It _was_ true that Lelouch was in no hurry, and although he didn't have a problem going several nights without sleep as long as he had some caffeine at hand and maybe a bit of time to nap at school, the hours unwittingly spent out in the rain had not left him unaffected. He felt it even more clearly after having enjoyed the warm water for so long: he was tired, and even though he doubted he was in danger of falling ill for the first time since his mother's death, he probably shouldn't take the chance. He had to be able to take care of Nunnally and lead his rebellion, after all, and there was no reason to risk that over such a small matter.

So, after a few seconds of consideration, he nodded. "All right."

Clovis seemed surprised for a moment, but then a happy smile settled on his lips. "Good. Come – you can use my room. It's closer, and the maids usually avoid it until the late afternoon. I think finding that reporter woman there traumatized them."

Clovis had already been starting to walk down the corridor, but when he noticed that Lelouch hadn't moved, he turned back and looked at him questioningly.

Lelouch was regarding his brother through narrowed eyes, and it didn't take Clovis long to catch on.

"Oh, come on, little brother. I'm not going to jump you – I wouldn't be so obvious about it if I planned to try and seduce you." Lelouch gave him a _look_, and Clovis relented, "All right, maybe I would. But then I would be even less subtle about it, and really, it's not as if you couldn't handle yourself. I'm not a masochist, you know. Well, actually, that's not quite true... but I rather like my life, and I have no intention of risking it when the odds for success are so pitiful they can only be expressed in negative numbers." He cocked his head. "I behaved myself so far this morning, didn't I?"

Lelouch gave his brother another assessing look. Then, after a short pause, he stepped forward.

Clovis smiled

x x x

"Here," Clovis said and shoved the petite cup into his hands. Lelouch only took it out of reflex, and because pulling away would have meant letting the hot liquid spill onto his lap.

"In case it escaped your notice, I'm trying to _sleep_."

"Sitting on the edge of the bed, a military report on your knees? Yes, I am completely convinced you are resting and not obsessing over politics again."

"_Excuse me_ for planning my moves in advance when trying to take out a superpower. I'm sure _you_ wouldn't bother with the foreplay and just screw the Emperor senseless."

Clovis tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Do you think it would work?"

"_Ugh_! Just leave and let me finish this."

"I'll leave when you're asleep."

"And I refuse to sleep while you're still in the room."

"A clear conflict of interests," Clovis noted airily. Then he stepped back, took out a pencil and eyed it speculatively.

"Don't you dare."

Clovis slowly looked up from the demonic item. "Whatever are you talking about, little brother dearest?" he asked innocently. "I just thought that if you refuse to go to sleep, I could paint something to pass the time. But if you think a pencil would be a bad choice, then maybe I should pick something else? Like... a brush?"

Lelouch was glad the folder in his lap was only a copy. This way, he could throw it at his highly obnoxious relative without having to worry about bringing the documents into the right order again later on.

Sadly, Clovis stepped sidewards just in time, and the makeshift weapon landed on the floor with a soft thud. A few loose sheets of paper followed, dancing inconsequentially to the ground next to it.

"Fine," Lelouch gritted out between clenched teeth. "I'll sleep. But if you don't shut up, or forget to keep your hands to yourself, you can explain to Cornelia why there is a picture of her and her Knight hanging in your personal gallery, right behind the one that shows her harmlessly watching butterflies with Euphie."

Clovis beamed at him. "All right!" he agreed and let the pencil carelessly drop to the ground.

Lelouch gave him a last dark look before he directed his attention towards the cup in his hands for the first time. There were only two ways to get rid of it (well, three, but throwing it at his brother would be rather childish – the probability that it would be another object missing its target was just too high, considering it would cause a mess), and Clovis would just be annoying about it if he simply put it aside.

And anyway, it wasn't as if Lelouch was particularly averse to the idea of a bit of hot cocoa - especially since he hadn't had any breakfast yet. So, in the end, he decided not to make life difficult for himself.

However, looking at the way Clovis' face lit up when he lifted the cup to his lips, he almost changed his mind. Only steely self-control kept him from dropping the porcelain right then and there for no other reason than to spite his brother.

When he was done, Clovis took the empty cup from his hands and placed it on the bedside table.

"Don't look at me like that," he said when he turned back to Lelouch. "It's just not healthy to work all day. Nunnally would agree with me." Clovis had some nerve, bringing his sister into this. "Besides, you yourself agreed not even an hour ago that a bit of sleep would do you some good; so quit trying to stare a hole into my head and follow your own advice."

Lelouch snorted. Having no intention of continuing to waste his time on an imbecile, he moved to the middle of the bed and pulled the covers up, not sparing his brother another glance.

Clovis didn't take the hint.

"See, that wasn't so hard," he commented and sat down beside him.

Lelouch didn't even blink when his brother started to lean over him, keeping his face devoid of emotion even when their noses almost touched. Clovis stopped and looked down on him, and there was nothing but silence between them for several heartbeats before his brother finally tilted his head. "May I?"

Clovis' expression was one of curiosity more than anything else, but maybe it was exactly this uncharacteristic lack of deliberate seductiveness that made the angle in which he held his head so attractive, the light blue eyes so compelling. Without any doubt, it was the only thing that saved him from a swift kick into the stomach.

In the end, Lelouch didn't answer, but an answer wasn't necessary. Clovis interpreted his reaction the right way – knew that silence was the closest he'd ever come to admitting he didn't mind. Their lips met, and the resulting kiss was soft, slow, as always when it was Clovis guiding the action. Lelouch could have easily taken control, but since he had no intention of letting this go much further, there wouldn't have been any point to it – just knowing how little effort it would take was enough. Besides, it wasn't as if it was unpleasant this way... if nothing else, Clovis wasn't a bad kisser.

Surprisingly enough, it was his brother who pulled back after only a few seconds, giving Lelouch a pleased smile and burying his head in the crook of his neck. Lelouch tensed, preparing to push Clovis off, but even half a minute later, his brother's hands remained where they were supposed to be. More importantly, Lelouch wasn't so sure anymore if it would have seriously bothered him if they hadn't, and so he relaxed again, letting Clovis nuzzle his shoulder and moaning softly when his brother started nibbling his throat.

"Ah, I'm sorry," Clovis said after some time and looked up at him. "I wasn't supposed to keep you from sleeping, was I?" He almost sounded sincere.

Lelouch didn't give a damn.

"Shut up," he said, grabbing his brother's head and pulling him into a kiss that didn't have much in common with the first one.

Clovis appeared surprised for a second, but then he smiled against Lelouch's lips in a way that was neither sly nor smug, but close enough to both, and opened his mouth to grant him entrance.

Not too much later, a hand slid between Lelouch's legs, stroking his crotch, and he couldn't help gasping into his brother's mouth. Clovis obviously took that as an invitation, moving his hand upwards and into Lelouch's pants, where he continued to touch him while deepening the kiss.

Technically, it wasn't sex they had that morning. In fact, they didn't even get very far in undressing, and there was no climax involved on either side.

Still, when it was over and Lelouch finally let his eyes drift closed almost an hour after he had stepped into the bedroom, habitually ignoring the head comfortably resting on his chest, even he couldn't deny that it had been _good_.

x x x

The plan was easy: let proof of Britannia's rottenness be evident everywhere in the government building - preferably in the form of official documents -, make sure his friend spent all the time Lelouch was busy taking care of political matters with Nunnally, and leave the rest to his own persuasion skills. It might not be enough to free Suzaku of his delusions immediately, but it should at the very least make him more susceptible to _Zero_'s ideals when the time came.

The whole thing just had one single catch...

"Only two more days," Clovis cheerfully pointed out.

"I don't know why _you_ are so happy about it."

"Ah, but Lelouch, I've been _dying_ to properly meet the person who manages to share your bed on a regular basis. Do you think he would give me some tips?"

"Ask him and you can get _tips_ from C.C. in the future."

"So cruel..." Lelouch narrowed his eyes, but Clovis waved him off. "Don't worry, I can be very discreet if I want to. I suppose I will just have to approach the matter of a threesome another time."

"The matter of a _what_?"

"Hm... then again, I imagine it could be kind of awkward. Things tend to get complicated when one of the parties involved has issues with their masculinity. You really have to get over that some time, little brother."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"You see," his brother went on as if he hadn't heard him, "bottoming from time to time does not make you less of a man." He patted Lelouch's hand in a manner one might adopt to reassure their diligent great-grandmother that it was all right to leave the dishes to someone else for once.

Lelouch immediately withdrew his arm from the table. "And years of intense study would not make you less of an idiot," he retorted. "That doesn't mean you constantly have to flaunt your lack of functioning brain cells to my face."

"Good one. And I barely heard the underlying bloodlust – you certainly are getting better."

"Is that supposed to make me change my mind about feeding you to C.C.?"

Clovis shrugged. "Oh well. It was worth a try."

x x x

"You know, I've been thinking..."

"And here I thought miracles were _my_ sphere of responsibility."

"Have you ever considered going over your plans for the future again?" Clovis continued as though his brother hadn't said anything.

"What kind of question is that?"

"You have to admit, your current goals lack panache. World peace is nice and all, but don't you think it's a bit... vague for a manifesto? It may work on terrorists and other people without any class whatsoever, but if you are thinking about convincing the rest of the world, you might want to polish your official to-do list up a little. The justice thing has nice right to it, but it's overused and terribly cliché. You need something that will catch the attention of the masses."

"Are we talking about destroying Britannia or selling vacuum cleaners?"

"Something timeless and dramatic," Clovis went on. "Like social market economy, or environmentalism, or animal rights..."

"Animal rights," Lelouch repeated flatly.

"Yes. After all, _everyone_ loves animals."

"Just like everyone is a closet nymphomaniac?"

"Why, yes. Even though the comparison is a bit...," Clovis paused meaningfully, "peculiar."

Lelouch looked at him with a blank face for several seconds before he caught on. "You're disgusting."

"_I_ am disgusting? Who was it that brought fluffy little animals into inappropriate context?"

"I didn't know the word 'inappropriate' was even part of your vocabulary."

"It isn't. I'm just pretending to have a sense of decency for the sake of argument."

"You don't say."

"Now, where were we? Ah, yes. I think animal rights would be a good choice. It's a very popular topic in Europe, did you know? Or at least, it is in certain circles."

"Since when do you concern yourself with Europe?"

Clovis shrugged. "I was bored. Does it matter? It's not even politics - not really. If it was, Schneizel would have actually contributed something constructive to the conversation instead of letting me rant about that kind of thing for hours just because I didn't have anything better to do."

"_Schneizel?_" The resentment there was obvious. Lelouch was so cute when he was being a sore loser...

"Yes. He basically patted me on the shoulder and told me to go get myself a cookie. Not literally, of course, but really, why is it that no one in this family respects my opinion? Either they think I'm 'too soft', or they treat me like a naive child, or they are you. Oh well, at least I sit in one boat with our dear younger sisters. And you're excused, since you're an insufferable little brat by default and so adorable it's actually quite charming."

"Do you have a point, or are you just trying to annoy me?"

"If you really need to ask that, little brother, then you are in desperate need for a hot drink. Green tea or Earl Grey?"

"Coffee."

Clovis sighed dramatically. "Your wish is my command," he said and got up. "Plebeian beverage it is."

x x x

"I'm glad you could come," Nunnally said, and Suzaku smiled at her.

"I'm glad, too."

"So am I", Lelouch agreed. "It's been a while since we spent the weekend together."

He thought that they were a pretty strange trio – a trained soldier, a young girl in a wheelchair and a seemingly normal student on their way to the government building, one the son of the late Japanese prime minister and two Britannian royalty. Since their mother's death, he and Nunnally had been keeping a low profile – low enough that even at Ashford, no one was suspecting anything -, but Lelouch supposed that they would have been recognized anyway if they had met up with Suzaku right after school instead of later on in a deserted alley, or if they had taken another route than the one Lelouch had carefully picked beforehand. The three of them together were simply too much of an eye-catcher, and the closer they got to their destination, the likelier it became that they would run into an older noble who at least knew _about_ them.

Since Lelouch had no intention of drawing attention to himself, it was a good thing he had a faultless map of the city stored inside his head. If you knew every side-street and dark corner, the risk of being seen by the wrong people was small, especially since the largest part of the wealthier population of Area 11 was busy having tea time or some other tranquil indoor activity at this time of the day. And even if a handful of people noticed them, no one would dare to do anything more about it than spread a few short-lived rumors. Having the media under control certainly was useful.

The government building itself wasn't a problem – the security there was high and didn't leave room for random civilians idly standing around on the street observing, and the guards were all handpicked by Jeremiah and either _geassed_ not to take note of any irregularities concerning Lelouch or capable of keeping their mouthes shut.

When they had as good as reached their target location, Suzaku – who had been walking next to Nunnally until then – slowed down and fell in step besides Lelouch. "And you're sure it's all right?"

"Positive."

"I can't imagine your brother being too happy about having me around. He must be busy..."

Lelouch barely contained a snort. Maybe he should give Suzaku a warning – remind him that his family was full of psychopaths and that just because someone called themselves governor, it didn't mean they took the job seriously. The last thing he needed was his best friend paying attention when Clovis made a fool of himself.

"About that...," he began, but didn't get any further.

_Speaking of the devil._

The moment they stepped onto the government compound, his brother was in front of them, like a dog that had been waiting at the fence for someone to throw it a bone. It escaped Lelouch how Clovis still managed to appear dignified and composed when it was obvious that if he had a tail, it would be sweeping the floor more effectively than any mob right now.

Without so much as sparing Lelouch or Suzaku a glance, Clovis bowed to Nunnally, lightly pressing a kiss to the back of her hand. "Sister – you don't know how happy I am to see you. I was beginning to fear that the lack of sophisticated company would lead me to adopt the ill manners of those around me." He spoke with a charming smile that was reflected in his tone. "I hope you have been well?"

Nunnally, used to this kind of greeting, giggled slightly and smiled back. "Yes, thank you."

Clovis kissed her hand a second time before releasing it. "That's good to hear," he said and turned to Lelouch, his smile altering in a way that suggested that whatever it was that was going on in his head, it would leave Lelouch with the urge to bury him under a mountain of pizza and sick C.C. on him.

"And of course, it's always good to see you, too, little brother." He stepped over to Lelouch, still with that oh-so-harmless smile on his lips, and then shifted his attention to Suzaku. "You must be Lelouch's friend," he said as if he hadn't seen the boy in front of him on several occasions before, and be it just because Suzaku was the pilot of Lloyd's favorite toy. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Your Highness," Suzaku said formally, and something flickered in Clovis' eyes – something that might or might not have been glee, and that reminded Lelouch dangerously of a hawk that had just discovered its prey was limping.

He had a bad feeling about this.

x x x

It was Saturday morning, only a few hours past sunrise, and the whole Royal Family present in Area 11 was already busy: Lelouch was acting out his politics fetish again. Nunnally was having a nice chat with Euphie over the phone and probably consulting her on how to best get Lelouch to do something fun for a change.

Clovis was standing in the door frame, watching his favorite little brother's lover stare at a pocket-watch.

"Is the sex good?"

Kururugi spun around. "W-what?"

Clovis smiled innocently. "I asked if you would care for some tea."

"I-... no, thank you."

"Are you sure? It wouldn't be any trouble at all - I was just on my way to get some. Or you could always accompany me to the kitchen."

"I'm fine, your Highness. It's... it's really not necessary." The boy clearly was uncomfortable. For a moment, Clovis wondered if Lelouch had warned him about him; but he almost immediately dismissed the notion, deciding that his brother would sooner bite off his own tongue than go into detail about just why he found Clovis so annoying (well, actually, there were more reasons than _that_, but it was even less likely that Lelouch would admit to the others. Amusingly enough, he treated Clovis doing his best to get him to socialize and constantly trying to cuddle him like some kind of dirty little secret).

Apparently, Kururugi had a thing for formalities – Clovis thought it was a rather endearing trait, and he certainly was planning on exploiting this weakness some time, but at the moment, it just got in the way.

Not that it was enough to stop him, of course. If anything, Clovis was persistent.

"Oh, but I would enjoy the company. I _really_ can't convince you? Having tea by myself is always so boring, and it will be _hours_ before Lelouch and Nunnally are done." A slight exaggeration maybe, at least when it came to Nunnally, but hyperboles had gotten Clovis a long way already in getting people to do what he wanted. He added the hopeful puppy eyes, though, just to make sure.

Kururugi stared at him. "Of course I will accompany you if you wish me to, your Highness," he eventually said, in a manner that was just one step away from stammering.

Clovis gave him his brightest smile and turned around.

Oh yes... this was going to be _fun_.

x x x

"So, tell me... how do you put up with Lloyd all the time?"

Kururugi looked up from his tea and blinked. "Your Highness?"

"Not that the man isn't good at his job" - in fact, he was probably the most competent scientist Clovis had ever met; not that that said much - "and I must say I find him quite interesting" - not to mention hot... Clovis thought he might just be developing a thing for glasses - "but you have to admit that if you hear someone speaking about 'mad scientists' around here, it's likely that they are thinking of Earl Asplund."

That actually got a smile out of the much too formal boy. "Well, Lloyd is certainly... unique," he conceded.

Clovis snorted softly. "That's one way of putting it." He tilted his head thoughtfully. "But his assistant seems to be a lot more down-to-earth."

"Miss Cecile?" Kururugi asked surprised.

Clovis made an affirming noise, tapping his chin. "I remember Lelouch praising her cooking skills." Actually, his brother had been swearing violently while rushing to the bathroom, grabbing the toothbrush and slamming the door in his face... but who cared about the details?

Once again, Kururugi smiled. "Yes, she really likes trying out new recipes." If he was thinking about similar horrors as the ones Lelouch had apparently been subjected to, he hid it well.

"I got the impression she is an interesting woman." And pleasing to look at, too. Clovis decided he needed to talk to her more often - 'talk' being open to further interpretation.

But speaking of Lelouch...

Clovis looked at the boy in front of him with a smile that would only have seemed harmless to someone who didn't know him at all.

Finally, he had his brother's lover exactly where he wanted him. And even though the boy was still pretty stiff, he was far more relaxed than the day before, or even just half an hour ago.

It was the perfect time to set his plan into motion.

Lelouch would kill him when he found out, but he could worry about that later – if nothing else, his death wouldn't be in vain.

And so, Clovis leaned forwards and opened his mouth, and it was all Suzaku Kururugi could do not to fall out of his chair when the Third Prince did what he had wanted to do since _forever_.

x x x

Lelouch stormed into the kitchen.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Both his treacherous best friend and his shameless older brother and looked up at him – one startled and the other with an expression of perfect innocence.

"Why, I thought that was obvious, little brother." And with that, Clovis turned back to Suzaku as if Lelouch wasn't even there, sounding as if he was chatting about the weather as he picked up where he had left off, "...and then Cornelia came in, and _boy was she mad_. Euphie, of course, was completely non-plussed, but Lelouch eventually realized that they were lying on the floor in a rather _compromising position_, and when he did, it was a sight to behold. I'd never seen him blush like that before, and I haven't again afterwards – his face had the color of a ripe tomato, and he was spluttering like an idiot. It was even better than the Diaper Incident, since he was actually old enough to realize-"

"That's enough!" Lelouch interrupted before his brother could make it worse by starting about _that_. Clovis hadn't even been present during The Incident; hell, Lelouch still wasn't entirely sure it had actually happened. It was just an embarrassing story that had made its way into the ears of every single member of the Royal Family somehow.

Clovis turned back to him. "Ah, don't worry, Lelouch, I wasn't about to go into detail about that." A pleasant smile appeared on his face. "I already did that."

"You-"

"Now really, little brother. We've been sitting here for more than two hours already. If your friend hasn't heard every single embarrassing anecdote from your childhood by now, it's only because poor dear Euphie is involved in far too many of them. I wouldn't want to say anything that she might find embarrassing."

Since it was obvious that Clovis wasn't feeling even the slightest bit of remorse (oh, but he _would_ when C.C. got to him...), it was his friend whom Lelouch fixed with an accusing stare.

"_Suzaku!_"

Unlike his brother, Suzaku looked slightly contrite, but not nearly as much as he should have. "I don't see the problem, Lelouch – it's not like it's anything you'd need to feel bad about. I think it's cute-"

That was as far as Suzaku got before he had to duck from a wet kitchen rag that came flying at his head.

Lelouch grabbed his friend by the arm and dragged him out of the room - having no doubt that Clovis was smiling merrily behind them, but beyond caring.

And if his face had heated up, then only because he was furious. He was _not_ embarrassed. He didn't care that Suzaku now knew about the Diaper Incident, or that he found it _cute_, of all things.

It was just that Clovis was an annoying idiot who would soon die a gruesome death next to cheese covered mushrooms and pitiful pieces of pepperoni.

x x x

Clovis knew the only reason he was still alive a full thirteen hours later was that by the time Lelouch would normally have finished planning his gory revenge down to the last detail, his little brother had other problems already – problems that took priority over someone telling incredibly embarrassing, but all in all fairly harmless inside stories about his childhood.

How exactly Lelouch had managed to set Kururugi off in the middle of the night (or the other way around; it didn't matter, really), Clovis would never know, but if there was one thing his little brother was good at when it came to interacting with other human beings, it was getting them to the point where every court would pardon them for just grabbing the nearest knife and giving in to the temptation. He was even better at it than Clovis himself, which meant he _really_ had a talent for making people have fond thoughts of homicide.

However, if you were good at pushing Lelouch's buttons in return, it worked the other way around just as effectively, and so, when two hours after midnight his favorite little brother had rushed through the corridors, visibly seething, Clovis had only been surprised for a split moment before curiosity took over, leading him to politely inquire as to the source of Lelouch's anger. For much the same reason, he couldn't say he hadn't been expecting it when his brother just snapped at him and left him standing in the middle of the hallway.

Knowing that Lelouch wouldn't appreciate him prying, Clovis had shrugged the matter off, deciding to let his brother calm down before he considered trying again. Instead of making a nuisance of himself – something he could always make up for later -, he had made his way to the nearest balcony, the only one on the floor with sleeping accommodations, where he was now watching the sky, lamenting the fact that the nights were getting more clouded, less suitable for the picture he still hadn't gotten around to painting.

Just when he contemplated returning to his chambers, light footsteps told him that he wasn't the only one who'd had the idea of catching some fresh air.

"Oh," a startled voice said, and for some reason, Clovis wasn't surprised that it wasn't Lelouch who had stopped right in his tracks upon noticing him. "Excuse me, your Highness. I didn't mean to disturb you."

"You didn't," Clovis replied and turned around, casually looking the boy in the doorway over. Kururugi appeared to only be still standing there because anything else would have been rude, waiting for a formal dismissal. It was ironic that a friend of Lelouch's should be like this, almost eager to receive orders, when his little brother would bite off the head of anyone suicidal enough to even do so much as tell him what he should have for breakfast.

The irony only increased with the knowledge that Suzaku Kururugi was the son of the late Japanese prime minister.

Clovis didn't care about politics, but he was curious about the boy, just like he was curious about what exactly was going on. He didn't plan on passing up a perfect opportunity to get some answers.

"I have to admit, though, I didn't expect to meet anyone here at this time of the day," he noted and tapped his chin, adopting a thoughtful look. "Lelouch is also still up and about." He purposely said it as if that in itself was unusual. "He seemed upset."

Kururugi didn't comment, but his eyes shifted to the side for a moment. He was clearly feeling uneasy... guilty?

The thought that he might be witnessing a lovers' spat made Clovis smile with glee. How unbelievably mundane... how incredibly amusing... how _cute_. Of course, since his little brother was involved, it was probably slightly more complicated than that, but that wouldn't stop Clovis from teasing Lelouch about this for at least the rest of the year.

"You didn't fight, did you?" he asked innocently.

Again the boy avoided his eyes, and Clovis thought that he must be a terrible liar. "It's nothing, your Highness," he eventually said. "We just had a slight difference in opinion."

"Was it about the Lancelot?" Clovis guessed. It would have been impossible not to notice that Lelouch wasn't at all happy about his friend piloting the white knightmare that had gotten in his way right from the beginning, control freak that he was. Clovis had offered to give Lloyd a hard time with his project, but paradoxically enough, his brother had all but forbidden him to interfere.

Surprise was clearly visible on Kururugi's face. "You... could say that," he admitted. "But it's really nothing important."

Clovis hummed slightly. "Is he angry because you risk your life? Or is he angry because you are risking your life for _Britannia_?"

The boy stared at him. "Your Highness?"

Clovis smiled. "Ah, don't worry. I'm aware my brother has some issues with our motherland." And he knew beyond doubt that Kururugi was, too. "He has all the time in the world to get over that," he continued smoothly. "Even though... one has to wonder why you would disagree with him. Britannia has all but destroyed your country, has it not? Conquered the land, subjugated its people..." He trailed off.

"It was war," Kururugi said, his eyes shifting again for a split second, but his tone nothing but sincere. "The past can't be changed."

"Ah, but there is always the future. Most people would desire revenge, or want to give their country back its independence."

"They would only be spreading more hatred."

"Oh, but I'm sure some of them are convinced that they are doing others a favor – saving innocent lives, even. Thinking about it, it might not be an entirely far-fetched assumption."

Kururugi shook his head. "Even if that were true... the end is meaningless if it is achieved through the wrong means." The last bit was said with such a conviction that Clovis blinked in surprise.

"I see," he said as if he wasn't just realizing that maybe Lelouch had a very good reason for being upset. "An interesting philosophy. Even though I have to say, I'm more of a consequentalist myself."

Now it was the boy's turn to blink. "A consequentialist? May I ask why, your Highness?"

Clovis shrugged. Actually, he wasn't really a consequentialist – he just thought consequentialism, even rule-consequentialism, where following regulations that lead to good results if adhered to by the masses was automatically considered moral - made a lot more sense than absolutist deontology. Still, for the sake of argument...

„I think it can be misleading to simply look at the actions of an individual to judge the rightness or wrongness of something in general. For example, imagine you are in a situation where you can not move, and a murderer asks you for the location of a potential victim. They will shoot an innocent bystander if you do not answer – so, will you lie, even though lying can easily be considered immoral, to save a life? Or is it enough if you think that an act is moral in a certain situation? Then what if someone murders their child because they think they are doing the poor thing a favor? And that's just extremes – the human mind is much too complex. If I do something for someone else, who says I am not being selfish regardless? Actions, even intentions... if I were to rely on them alone, I would have to be constantly second-guessing myself to make sure that I'm not simply seeing what I want to see. And even then, I could just be fooling myself."

Clovis paused, shrugging. "Oh well. Philosophy makes my head ache. It's all a gigantic paradox, really. Maybe everyone should just stick to ethical egoism and be done with it."

Kururugi stared at him.

x x x

"Have you made up?" Clovis asked his brother as soon as Kururugi had stepped out of the door.

It was an unnecessary question – by the time it was morning, it had been fairly obvious that everything was fine between the two again. Or at least, as fine as it could get if it had really been a clash of philosophies causing them to argue in the first place; which seemed pretty likely - it certainly would explain some things.

Lelouch didn't even look up from the cup in his hands. "I don't know how that's any of your business."

"Oh, it isn't. I was just wondering if there was some passionate making-up sex involved."

"...Do you ever think about anything that _isn't_ sex?"

"But of course, little brother." Clovis smiled brightly. "Even at this very moment. You just never ask."

"All right," Lelouch said flatly, clearly not believing a single word. "Then what _are_ you thinking?"

"I think...," Clovis said, his smile becoming even brighter, "that your friend has a very nice ass."

Lelouch choked on his coffee.


	6. Desk Jobs and Paperwork

And here is the last one of the chapters that had already been finished. From now on, they will take a bit longer to arrive, even though the next one is already in progress and will hopefully continue to cooperate with me. Thanks to everyone who commented again - the reviews really made me happy.

**Chapter Title:** Desk Jobs and Paperwork

**Rating:** M

**Additional Warnings**: On the horizon, a plot appears... as the smut returns, the opposing forces collide, and in the raging battle that ensues, the value of desk jobs is revealed.  
...Oh, and theatrics!

* * *

**Pleasures of Art  
- Chapter 6**

.

.

"Schneizel? What the hell would _Schneizel_ want here?"

Clovis coughed. "Well..."

Lelouch narrowed his eyes. "Well?"

"You remember the ruins on Kamine Island?"

"The ones you discovered around the time I acquired my Geass?"

"Yes. I might have... mentioned them to him."

"You _what_?"

"I'm sorry, Lelouch! It was before the incident in Shinjuku – I had no idea it would concern you like this!"

"I can't believe it. You could at least have _told me_."

"It just... never came up."

"Never came up," Lelouch repeated.

Clovis winced. "I didn't think he would pursue it. He usually leaves this kind of thing to me."

"Yes, you didn't think," Lelouch agreed. "That's the problem." His eyes became slits. "Does he know about Code R?"

Clovis shifted uncomfortably. "He knows... _about_ it, yes. But not about Geass," he hurriedly added, probably sensing that Lelouch was only one step away from throttling him. "I never told him about that. As far as I know, he's just aware that it's all about something father is interested in."

"Anything else I should know? Maybe you mentioned C.C. to Bismarck, or congratulated the Emperor on his Geass?"

"All right, so I made a mistake - that doesn't mean you have to be all sarcastic about it. I'm already doing my best to keep everyone off your track, and I don't see how this is the end of the world."

Lelouch only snorted and turned to leave. It wasn't that he thought Schneizel would find out about his powers just by taking a look at Kamine Island. He had seen the ruins, and even with background information, they were close to being useless. What he _didn't_ need, though, was Schneizel snooping around in Area 11, and someone knowing about his plans being unable to keep his mouth shut.

"Don't be mad," Clovis said behind him, and when he merely reached for the door handle, he was stopped by a pair of arms being wrapped around his torso. "I didn't know."

Lelouch shrugged his brother off, but didn't make another move for the door. Instead, he turned around, planning to tell the idiot to his face that he really didn't give a damn- it was a mistake.

Clovis looked so dejected and contrite that he shouldn't have been able to appear hopeful at the same time. And even though Lelouch knew that his brother was a good actor and just trying to manipulate him, it was hard to stay angry at someone when it felt every bit as gratifying as kicking a puppy.

"Don't let anything else slip," he said, his tone every bit as cold as he had intended, but his words not nearly as harsh.

Immediately, Clovis' face lit up. "I won't!" he assured him, much too brightly for someone who had seemed completely disheartened only a second ago.

Lelouch turned around again and left him standing there. He had more important things to do than dealing with annoying family members – like going over the new structure of the Order of the Black Knights once more.

After that, he would see how he could use this new development to his advantage.

x x x

"I forgot to mention," Clovis said that afternoon, when they were sitting in the governor's office, "Euphie wants to come, too."

"Euphie?" Lelouch didn't bother hiding his surprise.

Clovis smiled. "She misses you. I think Cornelia wasn't too happy with the suggestion at first, this being a gathering place for terrorists and all, but if there's anyone whose mere presence could convince her to just let her be, it would be Schneizel. I wouldn't be surprised if Euphie had been counting on that."

"Doesn't she have school?" Lelouch didn't like the thought of Euphie coming to Area 11 any more than Cornelia did. He could protect Nunnally at Ashford, and there was no way he would let her stay anywhere near the Emperor and the people who had killed their mother, but Euphie was clearly safer in Britannia. If Lelouch didn't trust Cornelia, he at least didn't doubt that she would look out for her beloved little sister to the best of her ability, be it personally or through the most capable of her subordinates.

"She does. But she won't be staying for long, and even if she was, she could always go to school here."

There was a knowing look in his brother's eyes, and Lelouch glanced away. "She shouldn't come."

"But you won't tell her that, will you?" Clovis replied, annoyingly perceptive and with a smile in his voice. "You can't tell her 'no' anymore than anyone else."

Lelouch snorted, but didn't contradict the statement. If he believed that Euphie would listen to him, he would have said something to her; but his younger half-sister could be stubborn if she wanted to, and he would never be able to dissuade her from visiting them.

"Don't worry," Clovis said as if reading his thoughts. "I'm sure she will be fine. I'm more concerned about the reporters that keep following me around – not that anyone could fault them for having taste, but if they get wind of what is going on and start bothering Euphie, Cornelia will not be pleased. I don't know about you, but I prefer my limbs where they belong."

"She knows I have nothing to do with the media if I can help it," Lelouch replied, unconcerned. "She'll blame you."

"Thank you," Clovis said dryly. "Your overwhelming sympathy never fails to amaze me. Should I ever be run over by a truck and about to die, remind me to get myself someone else to converse with."

Lelouch shrugged. "I wouldn't stay around to listen to your whining, anyway."

"Sometimes I wonder if you secretly practice at night. '999 callous replies to deep philosophical conclusions'. You really should spend your time reading things that have actual literary value."

"Like what?" Lelouch asked scornfully. "Fashion magazines?"

"Oh, I'm sure I could find something that suits your tastes," Clovis said with a meaningful smile. "Something far more... educational."

"I don't know if I find it impressive or pathetic that anyone should be this predictable."

"Then again," Clovis continued without acknowledging his comment, "just _looking_ at some of those positions might kill you. It must be sad to have the stamina of a dying goldfish."

"I'm not going to ask what you know about the stamina of aquatic vertebrates."

"Now _that's_ disgusting," Clovis said, but his face lit up in an expression one might also find on someone whose pet just performed a difficult trick against their expectations. "But perhaps there is hope for you yet."

Lelouch wished he could say that this was the moment he realized that his brother was seriously fucked up, and not just a comparatively mild reminder.

x x x

"So, how is your friend?"

"Fine."

"Fine as in 'I haven't killed him yet', 'the sex is great', or 'shut up and let me think'?"

"Take your pick. As long as you get back to whatever it is you were doing before you decided to come here and bother me, I really don't care."

Clovis, having no intention of returning to his quarters after finally having finished his most recent work, chose not to hear the last part and focused on the implications instead. "But if the sex is good, then how do you manage to stay so grumpy all the time?"

"I guess it says a lot about the quality of the rest of the company I am forced to keep."

"Now that's not very nice, little brother. I'm sure your friends at school would be devastated if they heard you say that." Clovis stepped around the desk until he was standing in front of the large window to which his brother had his back. When he had taken in the view – a dark blue sky, some clouds... nothing spectacular, really – he turned back to Lelouch. "Personally, I think you're working too much."

"Well, maybe I wouldn't _have to_ if you were actually doing your job."

Clovis raised an arm in a dismissive gesture. "It's not like Jeremiah isn't taking care of most of the politics already. No, I'm talking about this." He took one of the folders lying on the table and waved it around for emphasis. "Boys your age should be worrying about violent computer games, accidentally impregnated girlfriends, school and other unreasonable things - not world domination."

Lelouch snatched the folder back. "A lot of things _should_. But they _aren't_, so deal with it."

Clovis didn't reply. Instead, he seized his brother's shoulders, tightening his grip rather than releasing it when Lelouch immediately attempted to shake him off. "Keep still."

Of course, his brother didn't. "Let go. _Now._"

Clovis sighed. "Do you have to be so difficult? I'm just being considerate."

"Considerate?" Lelouch repeated angrily, disbelievingly.

"Yes. Now stop struggling."

"Who the hell do you th-" Lelouche broke off, jerking away from him with a surprised hiss.

"Oh my, you really _are_ tense," Clovis said and pushed his brother back into the chair. "I apologize. I'll be more careful from now on." He felt his brother's shoulders stiffen beneath his hands – obviously, Lelouch was thinking about continuing to fight him.

Clovis decided to change tactics.

He bent down until his mouth was next to his brother's ear. "It's just a massage," he said, lowering his voice into a purr. "Surely you are not afraid it would... _distract_ you from your work?"

Lelouch shivered, but didn't relax. Even when Clovis' thumbs began drawing circles to either side of his spine, he remained stubborn, refusing to let his muscles yield to the touch.

Typical. Lelouch would turn into a mother hen if Nunnally did so much as sneeze, but when it came to his own health, he couldn't possibly have displayed a greater lack of concern. He hung out with terrorists (and Lelouch could call them whatever he wanted – they were still dangerous, not cute little poodles eager to learn tricks), risked his neck like he was some kind of overconfident common soldier (whenever Lelouch had come up with his little piece of wisdom about how the king must lead for his subjects to follow, Clovis wanted to go back to that moment in time and hit him over the head until he forgot what he had been thinking about), barely slept at night, skipped classes as if he was trying to set a new record, and then, instead of having fun, used all the additional free-time to work towards an early heart attack.

And it wasn't even so much his brother's physical well-being Clovis was worried about. When Lelouch was stressed, he got irritable, snappy and was prone to cutting remarks – even more so than usual. Since Clovis had fought hard to keep his position as Lelouch's favorite outlet – because the only thing worse than Lelouch in a bad mood was Lelouch bottling up all that frustration and anger and hatred –, it was impossible for him not to notice the emotional strain his brother was under. And he couldn't help thinking that the burden Lelouch had chosen to carry was too heavy, the pressure he put on himself too high.

Clovis respected his brother's wishes, his desire for revenge and need to see Nunnally happy, but he was afraid that this was going too far. He didn't understand how his brother could risk this much, when he should know that he was tied so closely to Nunnally's happiness that losing him might destroy it forever. But there was no one to tell him when to stop, to remind him not to give up more than he could possibly gain, and Clovis wouldn't dare presume that he knew which lines not to cross and which bridges not to burn better than Lelouch himself.

Still, there were some things he knew with absolute certainty, and one of those things was that his brother needed a break. Badly.

He squeezed Lelouch's shoulders, not all that gently, and unprepared as he was, his brother couldn't stop himself from cringing. "We can do this the hard way if you want. I'd rather not cause you unnecessary pain, but you're so tense it's a wonder you can still move your head, and that just won't do." He loosened his grip again, lightly tracing Lelouch's neck with his forefinger. "If you try to relax, I promise not to bother you tomorrow."

A short silence. "The whole day?"

"The whole day!" Clovis confirmed, knowing he had his brother hooked. "I'll even fetch you your coffee."

"And not poison it with sugar?" Clovis could practically _hear_ the raised eyebrow.

He sniffed. "Yes, I will honor your poor taste."

Barely a few seconds later, Clovis felt the muscles under his hands ease slightly, and he smiled to himself. Lelouch was still stiff, but not horribly so, and he didn't even pick up any of the documents he had been going through. Maybe he had more sense than Clovis had thought – or perhaps he just wanted to make sure not to unnecessarily prolong this.

That gave Clovis an idea.

"You know," he said conversationally, "we would get done sooner if you took off your shirt."

His brother glanced over his shoulder, giving him a _look_. Clovis smiled innocently.

Clearly, Lelouch wasn't buying it.

"All right, so I'm not just pointing this out for practical reasons," Clovis admitted. "But it _would_ be easier that way."

Lelouch didn't comment, merely continuing to pierce him with an unreadable gaze, and Clovis decided to just try his luck.

Surprisingly, he didn't lose his hand.

Maybe Lelouch wasn't as irritable as he had thought yet.

"Would you _hurry up_ a little? There are people in this world who actually have something better to do with their time than wasting air."

...Oh well.

Clovis carelessly dropped Lelouch's shirt on the table. "You know, they say patience is a virtue."

"They also say not to kill obnoxious relatives. Do you think I care?"

"No." Clovis turned back, briefly caressing his brother's pale throat. "After all, you wouldn't be worried about your _virtue_, would you?"

"If you're just going to chew off my ear-"

"All right, all right." Clovis placed his hands on Lelouch's shoulders again, worried that his brother would change his mind if he took much longer. He really _was_ in a foul mood. "Don't get all riled up."

Once more he began squeezing the soft flesh between his fingers - but although he was being much more careful this time, he could feel his brother suppress a wince in the beginning. Even more than five minutes later, Lelouch remained noticeably tense, and Clovis had to wonder whether he was just that stiff or still in pain.

Neither was very desirable, but he hoped it at least wasn't the latter – after all, no one, not even his grumpy favorite little brother, should be able to overstrain their muscles like that without participating in some horrendous sporty activity (then again, Kururugi _did_ seem to have the stamina...).

Clovis continued to gently knead the sensitive tissue, until eventually, he felt Lelouch relax - _truly_ relax, and not just stop cramping his muscles on purpose as he had done before. Only then he slowly moved on from his original target area, letting his fingers trail down his brother's back, up his sides, along his stomach. Lelouch didn't protest, which was all the encouragement Clovis needed.

At first he only grazed the tempting nipples as if by accident, brushing over them as he went back upwards to resume the actual massage, but when he realized they were already hard, he didn't hesitate to abandon any plans to behave himself and went back to stroking them.

He noticed Lelouch shift slightly and smiled, leaning down to nibble the nape of his brother's neck and sliding one hand into tight fitting pants as the other continued to play with an eager nipple, and finally, there was a sound from his brother's lips – a low groan that was gone as soon as it had come, but clearly audible in the silence of the small room.

When Clovis grasped an already more than half-hard penis and at the same time pinched the nipple he still had between two fingers, Lelouch finally moaned, and Clovis held him like that for several seconds, unable to resist watching his brother squirm.

He gave Lelouch's member a few short strokes before he pulled out his hand again, caressing noticeably affected genitals through the soft texture of his brother's undergarments.

"Maybe we should move somewhere more comfortable?" he asked, letting a hint of amusement lace his voice.

"No." Lelouch's tone was surprisingly final, considering he was trying not to press into his hand and failing.

"Ah. At least get up so we can get rid of those unpractical clothes."

There was no answer, which was pretty much the same as a yes. Without removing his hand from his brother's crotch, he gave the boy a light push, and Lelouch got to his feet not quite as gracefully as he would normally have. Clovis stepped behind him, undoing and pulling down his brother's pants with practiced ease, and then using once again free hands to squeeze a much too tempting buttock.

Lelouch jolted.

"Oh my," Clovis couldn't help but comment. "Stress really has interesting effects on you."

Lelouch turned his head to _glare_ at him. Clovis smiled, and decided not to push his luck.

He wrapped an arm around the pale body in front of him, letting the other slide below the waist line again while grazing an appealingly slender neck with his teeth.

After some time he stopped merely rolling his brother's testicles between his fingers and squeezed instead, listening to his brother's gasp as he pulled him closer and twisted a deliciously sensitive nipple until Lelouch finally gave up clinging to his self-control so tightly and started bucking his hips. Then Clovis turned him around and pushed him backwards.

"What-"

"Shuh," Clovis said, covering his brother's mouth with his own as he grabbed his hips and lifted him onto the desk.

Lelouch pulled back. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"It's more comfortable this way, no?" Clovis put a hand on one of his brother's legs, caressing the inside of ivory thighs as he leaned in once more. "It's fine," he spoke softly against smooth pink lips before pressing his own against them.

He had to admit that he was surprised when Lelouch reciprocated after barely a heartbeat, but not so much anymore when sharp teeth sank into his lower lip, not with quite enough force to draw blood, but still rather painfully. He winced, but knew he should have expected this, and he didn't protest when his brother roughly grabbed his hair and took control of the kiss. It wasn't exactly what Clovis had intended, but as long as he was prepared, he didn't mind a bit of pain, and since he was fairly certain that Lelouch was aware of that, it seemed he was mostly forgiven. Or maybe his gruesome death had just been delayed until after the fun... either way, he wasn't going to complain.

He waited a few seconds before he put the hand between his brother's legs to use again, soon distracting him enough to be able to break the kiss and trail downwards a few inches, sucking hardened peaks until soft sounds of pleasure turned into moans as Lelouch thrust into his hand, still with a certain measure of restraint, but mostly just hindered by the table he was sitting on.

Clovis released the swollen nipple and pushed his brother's legs open. Placing one arm on the desk to support himself and casually shoving a stack of paper to the side in the process, he lowered his head and swirled his tongue around a dripping shaft before taking it into his mouth.

He hadn't even begun sucking when Lelouch moaned and buried his fingers in his hair, spreading his legs further apart. It didn't take Clovis long to notice that his brother was not only surprisingly complaisant but also fighting hard not to show much more appreciation than that, and he decided to be nice and not torment him by drawing this out, fun as it would have been.

Instead, he used his whole mouth to cause as much pleasure as possible in a short time except his teeth, and he would have used those, too, if Lelouch had kept still – something he knew was too much to ask at this stage, even from someone whose self-control was only surpassed by his infinite stubbornness.

Since his brother didn't have to worry about staying on his legs this time, Clovis supposed it shouldn't have surprised him that his grip tightened instead of weakened as the seconds passed by, but it probably would have become somewhat uncomfortable if Lelouch had been in possession of even slightly more physical strength or stamina.

As it was, Clovis didn't mind being held down like this, and even when Lelouch dug his fingernails into his scalp as he came with a hoarse moan that was muffled by exhaustion, the pain wasn't an unpleasant one.

When it was over, Clovis unhurriedly licked his lips before gently untangling his brother's fingers from his hair and straightening to meet the dark, if rather unsteady gaze of violet eyes.

Lelouch's face had slightly more color than usual, his lower body was trembling subtly, and his breathing was in tune with that of the average noble after a marathon. Not for the first time, Clovis allowed himself a moment to silently mourn the fact that his brother would never let him paint him like this.

He reached out to touch a strand of raven hair. "You're not planning to continue working in this state, are you?" he inquired. Lelouch didn't reply, but the look on his face was answer enough, and Clovis drew back his hand. "Oh, come on. It's past midnight already. Until you have showered and gotten dressed again, the sun will already be up. You might as well go to bed and start early tomorrow – I'll even carry you."

Lelouch snorted, gazing at him with an expression of superior contempt. "No, thank you."

"You know, you would be more convincing if you weren't about to pass out. Just quench that unhealthy pride of yours for once and accept that you will only land on your pretty little ass if you attempt to get down here on your own." He held out his arms invitingly.

Predictably, Lelouch didn't move, looking at him as a king might regard a particularly bothersome peasant. It was a remarkable feat, considering his breathing was quicker and more audible than that of a horse experiencing a panic attack.

"You're hopeless," Clovis said and put his left arm under his brother's legs, sneaking the other around a thin waist while ignoring Lelouch's rather pitiful attempts to shove him away. "Just relax. It's my fault you probably wouldn't even make it to the door on your own – let me make it up to you." He lifted his brother into his arms, planting a gentle kiss into the crook of his neck.

Lelouch did his best to make things as hard as possible for him, being entirely unhelpful and lying in his arm like an over-sized rock, but didn't actively struggle for long – like every good strategist, he knew when he couldn't win.

However, Clovis hadn't expected him to resort to pulling his hair in an act of petty revenge.

"Don't you think that's a bit infantile?" he asked, wincing.

"No." Lelouch's tone was completely matter-of-fact.

"I see... _ouch_. Lelouch! All right, I'm sorry, I- stop that!"

Naturally, his brother didn't. He really _was_ an ungrateful little brat.

x x x

"Just so you know: should I become bald one day, I will hold you responsible."

"Go ahead. I'll be happy to tell everyone who it is they owe their gratitude to. No doubt every male member of the court will be kissing my feet."

"And the females will lynch you."

"A risk I'm willing to take."

Clovis sniffed. "Really, why do you always have to overreact? To think that you might have damaged my beautiful hair..."

"Yes, I'm sure it's broken. Now shut up and let me sleep, or move to the floor."

"This is still _my_ bed, you know."

"A bed you put me into on your own volition. So if you don't want me to seriously hurt you, quit whining and go to sleep."

"But my _hair_."

Lelouch threw back the covers, sitting up. "You already said that half an our ago - and half an hour before that! I can't believe you're _still_ going on about it! How can anyone be this..."

"Vain? Narcissistic? Beautiful?"

"This much of a pathetic drama queen!"

"I will let you know that my indignation is perfectly justified."

"Just tell me you will faint if I break one of your nails, and I will do it."

Alarmed, Clovis crept backwards. "Stay away from my nails."

Lelouch stared at him incredulously.

"What? Do you know how much work it is to-" Clovis broke off. Lelouch was still staring. "Oh, forget it. Just come here. If you let me cuddle you, I'll forgive you."

"Does forgiving me translate to shutting the fuck up?"

Clovis smiled brightly. "Yes."

Lelouch gave him a look that said he was only doing this because was annoyed as hell and slowly lay back down, facing away from him but moving closer ever so slightly, and Clovis happily wrapped his arms around him.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, the Third Prince thoughtfully let his tongue slide over his bruised lower lip. "And you're sure you aren't a vampire?"

"Shut up."

x x x

"The objective of the mission is to secure the Lancelot and its pilot."

"What happens after we've caught him?" Tamaki asked.

"Leave that to me," Lelouch told him - and any other member of the Black Knights who might have wondered the same thing. "Just focus on the mission."

_I will make you see, Suzaku. Even if it means using my words like a knife and twisting your heart with it._

x x x

Clovis sighed.

He really didn't like this.

Why did Lelouch always have to be so _drastic_? Couldn't he just invite his friend over for tea and convert him to his cause over a a nice piece of apple pie? Did he have to involve _terrorists_ and turn an almost trivial matter into an overly elaborate plan to capture the Lancelot? It wasn't as if he would have more influence on Kururugi that way - if anything, Lelouch would have much better chances of convincing his lover without that hideous mask, seeing how the boy seemed to be quite fond of him.

But of course, no one had asked Clovis for his opinion on the matter, and he liked to believe that his brother knew what he was doing. He had his doubts, though, considering Lelouch could really act his age when something transcended the field of logic – in fact, 'his age' was an understatement. In some respects, he was still the angry ten year old who had decided to cut ties with the rest of the court to the point where he had not attended a single social event he hadn't been specifically asked to by his sister for years, regardless how many valuable allies he might have let slip through his fingers as a result. Of course, he'd had to look after Nunnally then, but even that wouldn't have required him to retreat from the public so entirely that people barely remembered his existence. To some extent, it probably had been a strategical move to make possible enemies think that Marianne vi Britannia's children were finished and not a threat to anyone anymore, but he could just have maneuvered carefully in his search for supporters instead of not at all.

Intellectually, Lelouch might always have been far above almost everyone else, child or adult, but his genius didn't make him infallible.

Clovis thought it would have been all right if his brother remembered that a bit more often.

It also didn't help that Schneizel could be arriving any minute now. Granted, he would probably just assume Lelouch was avoiding him, seeing how their little brother had never shown much subtlety in that regard, but couldn't he have picked another date? It might indeed be a good opportunity, and Lelouch had given him an unusually detailed lecture about why Shikine Island Island, with its rather isolated location, was perfect for what he had planned, but it was still a double-edged sword.

Then again, Clovis supposed it wasn't half as suspicious as it could have been, seeing how at least Nunnally was present. In fact, it might have been enough to convince someone already suspecting something that Lelouch _didn't_ have anything to do with the Black Knights. Even Clovis had been surprised that his little brother would let her accompany him instead of coming up with an excuse, considering there would be terrorists running around.

On the other hand, Clovis knew _he_ wouldn't have been able to keep Nunnally from welcoming Euphie to Area 11, and if he didn't have the heart, then it was quite probable that Lelouch didn't, either. Of course, there was Jeremiah to ensure her safety, but Lelouch had to be pretty certain that he had the situation under control if he thought that was enough; which, Clovis had to admit, was rather reassuring.

In retrospect, he should have remembered that for every bit his little brother obsessed over Nunnally's well-being, he proved to have an unhealthy disregard for his own.

x x x

"So, how are you?" Clovis asked Kururugi when he noticed that the boy was not engaged in a conversation with Nunnally anymore. He had known the two of them were close, but never seen it with his own eyes quite like this, and he wouldn't have dreamed of interrupting them. They were far too cute – it was really no wonder Lelouch got along so well with Kururugi.

"I'm fine, your Highness, thank you."

"I robbed you of your free-time, didn't I? But as you can guess, this matter was rather urgent. I hope you don't mind too terribly."

"Not at all, your Highness." As always, the boy sounded completely sincere. "It's an honor."

"Ah, in that case, I'm glad. I was worried I might have interfered with any important plans you might have had."

Kururugi shook his head. "You didn't," he assured him, then hesitated. "May I ask something, your Highness?"

Curious, Clovis tilted his head. "Of course. Go ahead."

"Why did you want me to escort you? I _do_ I feel honored, but I don't understand..."

"Why I would want to have an Eleven as a part of the escort?" he asked, and Kururugi averted his eyes guiltily. "It's obvious Nunnally enjoys your company." Clovis glanced over at the young girl who was was currently sitting in her wheelchair a few feet behind them, talking to Cecile Croomy and laughing softly at something the woman had said to her superior, who was looking rather unsettled.

Suppressing a smile, Clovis brought his attention back to the boy in front of him. "Besides, I can actually stand your presence – something that can't be said for the vast majority of the Britannian military. In fact, I rather like you." They boy blinked, and Clovis shrugged his shoulders casually. "I also thought it would be fitting to have my older brother be greeted by the members of the project sponsored by him."

"I see..."

"Your Highness!" A soldier that had been standing apart from the little group so far, one of the few who didn't belong to Jeremiah's men, was running towards them, visibly alarmed. Clovis knew what he was going to say before he even opened his mouth to continue, but made sure not to let that show in his reaction. "It seems the headquarters are under attack!"

"The headquarters?" Clovis repeated, feigning surprise. "Terrorists?" He was pleased that there was exactly the right amount of shock in his voice. Widening his eyes and adopting the appropriate posture was the easiest part.

"They are using jamming equipment," the soldier explained. "We could organize a guard squadron, but it might be safer if you remained here for now." The last bit was said with a quick glance at Jeremiah, who had moved next to Nunnally and was now listening intently to the conversation.

"Oh my," Clovis murmured, and not sounding overly dramatic was harder than appearing surprised and concerned.

He noticed that Kururugi had also stepped closer to Nunnally. His sister was reaching for the boy's hand, clearly disquieted, and Clovis wished he could have reassured her.

"Don't worry, Nunnally," Kururugi said as he took the girl's hand in his, his tone soft and determined at once. "I'll protect you."

"Actually," Clovis interjected, and felt like a heartless bastard, "I'd rather have the Lancelot assist the command center."

"Your Highness," the soldier from before spoke up, sounding incredulous, but visibly pulling himself together as Clovis turned to him. "Do you really think that's wise? He's an honorary Britannian, and there is a high probability that the enemy is the Order of the Black Knights. If he were to betray us-"

"Thank you," Clovis cut the man off dryly, "for pointing out the obvious. Should my humble intellect ever fail me in the future, I will be sure to ask a _common soldier_ for advice."

The soldier in question looked taken aback for a moment before surprise turned to shock. "F-forgive me, your Highness, I didn't mean to-"

Clovis waved him off, in a manner that should leave no doubt about how little he cared for the man's excuses. "I'm sure Kururugi will do just fine," he said, his whole demeanor changing as he turned around again and smiled brilliantly at the boy who in return blinked at him, obviously startled.

"Thank you, your Highness," he eventually said. "I won't disappoint you." But then Kururugi paused, glancing at Nunnally uncertainly. She had released his hand, but appeared no less concerned than before. If anything, her anxiety had only increased.

"Don't worry, sister," Clovis told her. "I'm sure we are safe so far away from the battlefield. And in the case that something unexpected happens, there's still Lord Gottwald here to take care of it."

Jeremiah took the cue. "I will protect you with my life, Lady Nunnally."

Clovis couldn't say how relieved he was when his sister smiled at them. "Thank you. I'm sorry, I was just a bit nervous."

"It's fine," Clovis assured her.

"Don't trouble yourself over it, your Highness," Jeremiah said at the same time, and Nunnally giggled softly.

She turned her attention back to Kururugi. "Be careful, all right?"

"I will."

When the day was over, Clovis would remember this promise and wonder whether assuming that his brother's friend was a bad liar might have been precipitate.

x x x

"Results obtained through the wrong methods are meaningless," Suzaku said after he had decisively declined his offer, and Lelouch wanted to grab and shake him until he stopped sprouting nonsense and started _thinking_ for a change.

But he had predicted this, and regaining his calm wasn't as hard as it could have been. "In that case, let me ask you: is the peace right now meaningless?" He took satisfaction in the surprised look on his friend's face and continued, "Seven years ago, if Japan had decided to keep fighting, what do you think would have happened?"

The fact that Suzaku's expression immediately hardened told Lelouch that he already knew the answer.

"The Chinese Federation and Europe would have invaded," he pointed out anyway. "Japan would have been split into three parts, and would still be at war today. In other words," he concluded, "the current peace was brought about by a sudden, unconditional surrender."

By now, some of the conviction had left Suzaku's face, and he was visibly troubled. Obviously, he had an inkling where this was going, and yet he continued to delude himself. "That's right. I fight so that the peace my father created will not be shattered."

"No," Lelouch said. "You're wrong. It was not the democratically elected Prime Minister Kururugi who wanted to surrender. It is the selfish person who killed him who decided in his stead." Suzaku's eyes widened, and Lelouch knew he would have him exactly where he wanted him any second now. "The government system fell prey to chaos, and there was no choice but to surrender. Do you understand? People's will has been snatched away... by someone who selfishly broke to rules and decided Japan's fate all by himself!"

Suzaku stumbled back in shock. "Why... how do you..."

Lelouch stepped towards his friend. "There is only one way you can redeem yourself," he told the other boy when he came to a halt right in front of him, and Suzaku stared at him uncomprehendingly. "Give your full support to the Japanese who were robbed of their choice at that time. Return what was stolen from them during the war with Britannia seven years ago."

"War? Again?"

"That is a path, as well," Lelouch said and moved back slightly, his gun no longer aiming at vital organs, but a few inches lower than before. "Do you want to force your opinion onto others for all eternity? Is that what you call 'peace'?"

There was still a hard look on Suzaku's face, but the conflict was obvious in his eyes. Now, just one last push, a few more well-aimed words, and he would break...

That was when Suzaku was contacted by his superiors.

It was no two minutes later that Lelouch cursed himself for letting his friend answer the call.

x x x

"You want to sacrifice the Lancelot?" Earl Asplund asked, but his obvious shock was nothing compared to the expression on Jeremiah Gottwald's face.

Noticing this, Clovis was quick to bring his own features back under control, and when he spoke, his voice was as cold as the fear that curled inside his stomach like a shifting snake, "What is the meaning of this?"

"Major Kururugi is currently detaining the enemy," the soldier in front of him said, stating the obvious. "Now, we can defeat Zero."

"I do not remember authorizing such a radical course of action."

"I'm sorry, your Highness. It was a level-one order, which made it impossible for us to-"

"_I know what a level-one order is_", Clovis snapped. "And I revoke it." He wondered who could have issued the command. A level-one order required the approval of three generals, the governor himself, or...

That was when it hit him.

God, he had been a fool.

"Are you sure, your Highness? This could-"

"Yes, I am sure," Clovis cut the presumptuous underling off, no more amiable than before. "And if you don't want me to have your head for insubordination, you will see to it that the Lancelot and its pilot remain intact. I want this order canceled, _do you understand?_"

"Y-yes. As you wish, your Highness."

Clovis wanted to strangle the idiot soldier, Schneizel, and their megalomaniac brat of a younger brother.

x x x

"_The Avalon?_" Lelouch stared at the airship that had appeared on the sky above them. So it _had_ been Schneizel.

This was bad. He needed to do something, fast, or Suzaku's bullheadedness would get them both killed.

"Suzaku!" he tried one last time, not managing to keep all of the frustrated desperation from entering his voice. "At this rate, you will really die!"

"Better than to break the rules!" his friend retorted, and Lelouch could no longer afford to deny that there was nothing he could say or do that would make Suzaku change his mind. If he left him with a choice, this place would become their grave.

Lelouch thought back to the day they had defeated Mao through their combined efforts, the man's claim that Suzaku had been merely seeking death for the last seven years and the expression on his friend's face upon being confronted with the ugly truth. He remembered the peaceful days the three of them had spent at the Kururugi shrine, and how violently they had been torn apart.

Instantly, Lelouch's fists clenched.

"You stubborn fool!" he exclaimed and threw his principles over board.


	7. Island Adventures

I actually managed to get this chapter to not unnecessarily prolong the writing process – I'm proud of myself!

Of course, the fact that there's a very real possibility that the next one will take extra long since I only have two weeks or so left before real life starts to try and eat me again puts somewhat of a damper on things, but what you see before you is indeed the longest chapter of this fic so far, so maybe that can make up for it.

Before anyone wonders, I think I can already tell you that I messed with the timeline a bit. I thought it makes sense that with Clovis around, "Shikine Island" would happen sooner, and so there will be no news from China just yet.  
Yes, I shamelessly bought myself some extra time, but what can I say? Clovis made me!

As always, the comments made me exceedingly happy, but I think I already told you that. xD

**Chapter Title:** Island Adventures

**Rating:** M

**Additional Warnings:** The battle between plot and smut rages on! Will there be a winner?  
More importantly: will the winner survive the randomness?

And did Clovis just compare C.C. to...  
Oh well.

* * *

**Pleasures of Art  
- Chapter 7**

.

.

"_Shut up, I don't care! I must live!"_

Clovis had never been so relieved by a blatant refusal to obey orders before. As soon as the initial surprise had faded, there had been no doubt in his mind that what he'd been hearing was the result of _Geass_.

It meant there was a chance Lelouch had gotten out of this in one piece.

A small, pitiful chance, but panicking now was the stupidest thing he could do, and so he clung to it like a lifeline while he concentrated on sorting out the matters at hand.

Like the little issue of Schneizel having heard about his attempt to revoke his orders – an attempt that had been foiled by a lack of time and subordinates that were both unwilling and incompetent. Of course, his almost having gone for the throats of everyone even remotely responsible hadn't exactly helped in thwarting his older brother's interest.

And so, after Clovis had exploded at Schneizel and the Second Prince was raising a curious eyebrow at him, he didn't try to excessively reign in his temper – that would have been suspicious. Instead, he named the only reason for his outburst besides 'you just blew up out little brother, you idiot!' that would seem at all believable.

"That happened to be Lelouch's friend," he snapped. "If Kururugi is dead, _you_ can explain that to him! What were you _thinking_?"

"In this kind of situation, one has to decide on one's priorities," his brother explained, not unkindly, and Clovis wanted to scream. Why did Schneizel always have to be so god damn _reasonable_? It made arguing with him seem ridiculously futile, which was probably why no one in the entire Royal Family had ever tried – Lelouch had come closest by far, and his not-quite-so subtle displays of hostility could hardly be called 'arguing'. "It is regrettable that it was necessary to risk losing Major Kururugi, but there was a chance that we would have been able to save him due to unforeseen irregularities. I took a gamble, believing that Special Dispatch pilot Suzaku Kururugi could make it out of there."

Clovis wondered how probable that outcome had been in his brother's estimations. Probably two inches above the likelihood of _Zero_ surviving the incident.

But he didn't voice his cynicism laced contemplations, knowing Schneizel wouldn't need a second to smoothly deflect them and make him feel like a petulant child.

"Still...," he said instead, trailing off and letting his inability to argue with his brother show in his voice as well as his body language. He just needed to cover up the real reason for his behavior, not make a point.

Schneizel smiled at him. "I'm sure things will work out."

"Yes," Clovis said after a moment of calculated hesitancy and took a deep breath. "You're right, _Aniue_. I apologize for overreacting. This whole terrorist business has had my nerves on edge lately."

"That's understandable. Have you thought about asking Cornelia for help?"

Clovis shook his head. "I wouldn't want to bother her."

"I don't think she would see it that way. She is worried about you."

"She is?" Clovis asked, slightly surprised. It was one thing to have Cornelia worried – it was another to have her worried enough to let others know about it, even if it was someone she respected as much as Schneizel. "There really is no need for her to lose any sleep over the situation in Area 11. Aside from those terrorists being more persistent than usual, it's not that bad. And should things ever threaten to get out of hand, I can always ask Lelouch for advice."

"Speaking of Lelouch... where is he?"

"Oh," Clovis said, letting himself appear slightly uncomfortable and contrite, which, under the given circumstances, was ridiculously easy. "He mentioned something about having to do work for school."

"I see." Schneizel's tone didn't give anything away, but if Clovis hadn't messed up, he was merely assuming that their little brother was showing a deliberate lack of courtesy. Of course, if something had indeed happened to Lelouch, Clovis might be hard-pressed to explain, but he chose not to think about that – because if Lelouch was hurt or worse, he would have other problems than being suspected of treason.

"Let's return to the others," Clovis suggested. "I'm sure Nunnally would be delighted to talk to you for a bit more. No doubt she appreciates Lord Gottwald's efforts to find Major Kururugi, but even though it was her who urged Euphie to accompany the search party as soon as she offered, she must feel lonely with everyone gone."

Schneizel didn't disagree, and when they made their way through the corridors of the Avalon, Clovis thought that things must really have hit rock bottom.

During the whole conversation, the word 'sex' had never crossed his mind.

x x x

"What do you mean, 'lost'?" Clovis wanted to die.

"Well... she refused the guard I picked for her protection and insisted that it would make more sense if she went on her own."

"_And you let her?_"

"Of course not!" Jeremiah sounded affronted. "But she was gone before I could stop her."

"All right, so let me sum this up: my little brother is missing. My little sister is searching an island for his friend, whom she has never met and couldn't distinguish from some random terrorist who happens to be looking for his leader. My older brother thinks the politics have messed with my head, and my older sister will kill me if she ever finds out that I managed to _lose Euphie_."

"I'm sorry, your Highness."

"Yes, well, it's hardly your fault. If... _when_ you find Lelouch, you have permission to hit him on the head. Hard."

"Ah..."

"No, you wouldn't do that. Forget it, I will do it myself. Just find him... and Euphie, preferably _before_ Darlton arrives."

"Yes, your Highness!"

Clovis ended the communication and rubbed his temples.

He knew he shouldn't have let Euphie go – but Schneizel had all but encouraged her, and he would have needed a good reason to object; one that didn't involve getting back _Zero_ in one piece and protecting his identity at the same time.

Not to mention that Clovis found refusing either of his favorite younger sisters to be almost as hard as saying no to Lelouch – when they teamed up, he couldn't do much more than throw in the towel.

This time, though, it would have been much wiser to just make up an excuse.

As reliable as Lord Gottwald might be, Clovis' younger siblings had a nasty habit of turning out to be utterly unpredictable whenever it caused the most trouble for everyone involved. It was probably the only hypothesis one could make about them that would never fail to prove true.

He really should have considered that.

x x x

"_Euphie?_" It had slipped out before Lelouch could stop himself, and his sister, who had appeared right in front of him out of nowhere and stopped dead in her tracks upon realizing that she was looking at the infamous terrorist keeping Area 11 on tenterhooks, stared at him with widening eyes.

"Lelouch?" she finally asked, taking a hesitant step forward, and Lelouch backed away. "It's you, isn't it? I won't tell anyone." She paused, uncertain. "But I don't understand. Why would you...?"

Slowly, Lelouch lowered the gun.

"Euphie," he said, taking off his mask.

"Lelouch, why are you...?" She didn't look shocked or scared anymore, just confused, and Lelouch smiled at her sadly.

"I'm sorry," he told her sincerely. "I never wanted you to find out this way. To find out at all."

"I don't understand," Euphie repeated, moving closer until she was standing only two feet apart from him. "What's going on, Lelouch? Are you..."

"Yes," he said, and and the look in his sister's eyes told him she didn't doubt him.

"But why?"

"It's a long story. I promise I will explain - but not now." He extended his hand to her, and she took it without hesitation. "We should find a way to leave this island first. How did you get here, anyway?"

"With the search party. They are looking for Suzaku and I-" She broke off, looking alarmed. "The search party!" she exclaimed. "Lelouch, Jeremiah is-"

"I saw the lights. So it's Jeremiah and his men?"

"Yes. I could go back and try to lead them away from you, but how will you-"

"That won't be necessary," he told her. "Is there anyone else here?"

"No. Lelouch, is Jeremiah...?"

"He has been aware of it from the beginning. Will you tell Cornelia?"

Euphie didn't even take the time to think about it. "Of course not! I said that I wouldn't tell anyone - do you really think I would break my word like that?"

"I suppose not," Lelouch conceded. "It's just hard to imagine you keeping something from her."

"I couldn't give away your secrets." Her eyes were soft. "And I wouldn't want to make her sad."

"I see."

"What about Clovis? Does he..."

"He knows. We should go and see if we can find Jeremiah - before other people get involved."

Euphie fell in step beside him, but Lelouch didn't miss the look on her face. "What is it?"

"You told them, but you never mentioned it to me. Or to Nunnally... am I right?"

Lelouch wasn't sure where the heavy feeling in his stomach was coming from, but he had an inkling it had something to do with his sister's tone of voice. "Yes. But I needed them for what I am trying to do. It doesn't mean I thought you would betray me."

"I know." But strangely enough, she sounded even sadder than before.

Lelouch stopped. "Euphie, is something-"

He cut himself off when he heard someone approaching, quickly disappearing behind the nearest group of bushes and dragging his sister with him. He had barely put on his mask again when he saw just who it was that had disturbed them.

_Why are those two...?_

"Isn't that your friend?" Euphie asked and, before he could ask her how she knew what Suzaku looked like so well when she had never seen him in person, not to mention stop her, jumped up. "Suzaku Kururugi?" she asked, obviously too excited to think about what she was doing.

The boy in question had already come to a halt, clearly startled, and was now staring at the pink haired girl wearing an eye-catchingly white dress. "Who...-"

"Don't move!" Lelouch reacted fast, hurrying behind his sister and pointing the gun at her head with one hand while grabbing her arm with the other. "Play along," he told her quietly before raising his voice again, "You wouldn't want to be responsible for the Third Princess', Euphemia li Britannia's, death, would you?"

"The Third...?"

"If you want her to remain unharmed, return to me my subordinate." Kallen looked nearly as surprised as his friend did, but pulled herself together quickly enough. "We will exchange hostages."

"Zero!" Suzaku exclaimed angrily. "You're still..." He started to advance towards them – you could think he hadn't heard a word Lelouch said.

"Stop!" This time, Suzaku did, and Lelouch kept talking when he noticed that Kallen was making use of her captor's temporary distraction by getting rid of the ropes that bound her. "Did you want to say 'evil'? No matter how high the price, you still want to eliminate all terrorists. Are you prepared to rely on that rule of yours even if it means forfeiting the life of one of your masters?" He paused. "Ah, I suppose it doesn't matter anymore."

As soon as he closed his mouth, Kallen jumped the pilot of the Lancelot from behind, restricting Suzaku's movements by pressing his arms against his body as the boy struggled to get free.

The fight that ensued was a rather savage one and involved kicking, punching and the use of very colorful language, the latter being the result of an astonishing creativity on Kallen's part that had everyone else blushing within seconds.

"Isn't that a bit much?" Euphie asked carefully, in a voice that sounded both appalled and almost morbidly curious, when Kallen drove her knee where no male would want something to land with that kind of impact. Even Lelouch had to suppress a wince.

"Shut up!" Kallen shot back. "I don't need some stupid doll princess telling me what to do!"

"Doll princess?" Euphie exclaimed. Obviously, that had struck a cord. She pulled free and stumped over to the ace of the Black Knights, and Lelouch could only stare after her.

"Euphemia!" he finally managed, but she didn't react, and Suzaku used the temporary distraction to slip out of Kallen's grip and attack. Lelouch narrowly avoided him, but the moment he came to a halt, there was a bright red light engulfing them. He looked down, and identified what looked like a glowing _Geass_ symbol stretching across the soil as the source of it.

When the ground below their feet gave away only a second later, there was nothing they could do but stare.

x x x

_Well_, was all that went through Clovis' head when the ceiling came crashing down in front of them, _Lelouch certainly knows how to make an entrance_.

He couldn't say he had ever been so happy to see that hideous mask. In fact, he was so glad that the sigh of relief caught in his throat, and he almost failed to snap at the soldiers who had the nerve to point their weapons at the unexpected arrivals despite Euphie being amongst them.

From a safe distance, he watched his brother and his red-haired follower (for some reason, Clovis had never put much thought into the matter of female terrorists, even though technically, he had known they must exist) fight their way to the Gawain and tried his hardest to appear shocked rather than giddy when they pulled off their improvised escape without a hitch. There was no doubt he would give his little brother a piece of his mind later, when a suitable opportunity presented itself, but for now, relief clearly won over the remainders of his earlier irritability, and Clovis couldn't help being somewhat impressed by how this ordeal had ended.

"And there goes our newest toy," he commented eventually, letting a light note of regret enter his tone as if he was truly lamenting the loss of the black Knightmare.

"It was just a test model," Schneizel replied, sounding entirely unbothered. "Instead of mourning it, we should celebrate their return."

Clovis followed his brother's gaze to where Euphie and Kururugi were standing side by side, having just stepped out of the ruins behind them.

"You're right," he agreed and went over to them, giving his sister a heartfelt smile that she returned. "Euphie! I hope you are unharmed?"

"Yes, thank you, brother."

"Good," Clovis said with another smile, glad that both his younger siblings were apparently all right, and relieved beyond words that a messy death by the hands of the Witch of Britannia didn't seem inevitable any longer. He turned to Kururugi. "What about you?"

"I'm fine, your Highness," the boy said. He seemed a bit out of sorts, but since he wasn't missing any limbs or looking as if he had a mortal wound hidden somewhere, Clovis didn't push the issue. He was an artist, not a psychiatrist – even if it didn't feel like it sometimes.

"Your Highness," someone behind him tentatively said. Clovis turned around, and found himself looking at the soldier whom he had put in his place twice already since this whole mess had started. The man gave the impression of a nervous rabbit approaching a possibly sated, but certainly volatile fox, and Clovis had to keep himself from smiling in satisfaction.

"What about...," the solider carefully continued when Clovis didn't immediately rip off his head, but then trailed off, glancing at Kururugi uncertainly.

"Ah, yes," Clovis said lightly. "I suppose we should clear this up, shouldn't we?" He turned his attention towards the pilot of the Lancelot again. The boy was looking at him questioningly, but it was Euphie who spoke up.

"What's the matter?"

"Well..."

"It's nothing you'd need to worry about," Schneizel injected with a kind smile. "Why don't you go looking for Nunnally? She should be with Lord Gottwald, and I'm sure she would like to know that you and her friend are safe."

"But..."

"Actually, I think that's a great idea," Clovis said and put an arm around his sister's shoulders, guiding her to the soldier from before, who was still waiting for a formal dismissal. "Let him escort you to Jeremiah and Nunnally. We will be done in no time."

Euphie still didn't look too happy, and Clovis felt a pang of guilt. He knew she didn't like being treated like this, as if she was an endearing, but naive child getting in the way. "Please?" he tried, giving her a look that was both hopeful and apologetic.

His sister hesitated. "All right," she finally conceded.

Clovis shot her a thankful smile and stepped back, and Euphie turned to follow the waiting soldier. With one last glance over the shoulder, she disappeared back into the ruins.

"Now, let's hurry up and deal with this," Clovis suggested as he went back over to his brother. "I would hate to be stuck here for another day." Beside them and Kururugi, there were only a few soldiers standing around – most of them part of Jeremiah's men and the others belonging to Schneizel, which meant they weren't prone to making a nuisance of themselves.

"Actually," his brother said, "I was thinking about going back, as well, to finish things here as soon as possible. Do you think you can handle this by yourself?"

"Of course. Shall I ask some of your men to escort me?" Clovis doubted his brother would want him roaming around on the Avalon, and even in the case that Schneizel didn't mind, it wasn't as if Clovis had access to everything, or bothered to remember where every single one of the many corridors led to.

"Maybe that would be best. Tell them our sisters and I will arrive later in the day."

Clovis nodded. "Give Nunnally my regards."

When Schneizel had left, he turned to Kururugi, who had watched them with apparent confusion the whole time.

"Your Highness?"

"Ah, it's a bit complicated. I think it's best I show you – come."

One very pleasant trait of his little brother's friend was that he didn't ask questions – the moment there was something resembling an order, he didn't challenge it, unlike certain other people Clovis had had the displeasure of dealing with these last two days. He thought that this compliance must annoy Lelouch – to have someone so close to him serve the country he hated so much with this kind of readiness probably had him seething.

Personally, Clovis didn't mind not being contradicted. In fact, having someone not talk back to him for once was rather refreshing.

Now if he only didn't have to make the boy think he was losing it.

However, too many people had witnessed Kururugi's little display of insubordination, and although Clovis would have liked to talk about this with Lelouch first, he couldn't delay the matter. Not having his little brother's lover arrested was really all he could do, and even that might have become a problem if Schneizel hadn't so openly agreed with him. Maybe the soldiers would have heeded his orders, but he didn't need word to get around that he was excusing second-degree offenses. Obviously, he already wasn't nearly as respected as popular as it was - if he wanted to prevent something like the incident on Shikine Island from happening again, he really couldn't afford to make it worse.

They went in silence, two of Schneizel's and one of Jeremiah's men trailing behind them, and when they arrived at the Avalon, Clovis let them go first. Kururugi always kept one step behind him, which wasn't really ideal for making conversation, but just as well considering it wasn't exactly the time for idle chatting.

"You can wait here," Clovis told the three soldiers accompanying them when they had arrived in front of the room that still contained the recording of the incident the day before.

"Your Highness?" Since the man looking at him uncertainly was one of Lord Gottwald's, Clovis didn't take offense.

"It's fine. We won't take long."

The man inclined his head. "As you wish, your Highness."

Clovis gestured for Kururugi to go in and then followed after him. When the door closed behind them, he sighed inwardly.

This would definitely be kicking the puppy.

x x x

"Was that really... me?"

"I'm afraid so," Clovis said casually, watching Kururugi out of the corner of his eyes. He had been quite certain already that his little brother had used his Geass on his friend, but now there wasn't even room for a grain of doubt anymore. The boy was clearly shocked, and he didn't seem to be taking this very well.

Clovis felt bad for leading him on, but there wasn't much of a choice, and he wouldn't dwell on something he couldn't help. After all, Lelouch would always come first – before random people on the street, before Lelouch's friends, and before Clovis' nagging conscience. "But don't worry. As my older brother said, you can't be held accountable for something that occurred during an irregular period of time."

Kururugi didn't move, and Clovis resisted the urge to wave a hand in front of his face to see if he was still there.

Instead, he wrapped an arm around him.

Predictably, that got the boy out of his trance. Clovis pretended not to notice him jump. "Now, now, let's not over-dramatize this. You look like you just saw Zero perform a lap-dance for the Emperor." Now _that_ image was almost disturbing. Almost. "The heat of battle, heightened adrenaline levels, ...those things happen. Instinctual reactions to a life-or-death situation, not Zero molesting my father, mind you."

Kururugi made a strange noise in the back of his throat that might be gagging, or could simply indicate that he was at a loss for words.

Satisfied that he had successfully snapped the boy out of his mental stupor, Clovis released him. "It will be quite some time before we get company. How about some tea? You look like you need it."

"I..."

"You're not going to decline, are you? Because that would mean you were dooming me to hours of monotony and boredom, and surely you can not be that cruel?"

Kururugi just stared at him, clearly not very eager to agree, but also unable to weasel his way out of this. Clovis decided to make it easier for him by sparing him the trouble of coming up with a reply. "Ah, I knew it! You just aren't nearly heartless enough for that. I _hate_ being turned down, you know? Don't worry, I'm sure we will have lots of fun!"

When Clovis started steering Kururugi out of the small room stuffed with technical equipment and towards more comfortable accommodations, the boy was too overwhelmed to protest.

x x x

"And you still make a face as if someone just killed your favorite pet hamster," Clovis remarked.

Kururugi didn't even look up from his tea.

"Yes, ignore me."

"What I did..." Kururugi's voice was so quiet he could barely make out the words – it was obvious that he was more talking to himself than to Clovis. "It shouldn't be excused so easily."

"Oh, not you, too!"

The boy raised his head, startled. "Your Highness?"

"I swear, the next person who tells me what I should or shouldn't do will get seriously hurt. You're a soldier under my command. If I tell you this incident is a trivial matter not worth troubling yourself over, you don't obsess over it. That's bad manners. Also, if you want me to go around punishing people for insubordination, I would have to start with the ones who got you into this mess in the first place. It's one thing to follow my older brother's orders – it's another to question mine when I made myself perfectly clear. At least you had a better reason than a blatant disrespect for my person - so yes, you are excused. If you don't like it, you can go ask Schneizel if he needs a scullion. In that case, you just have to avoid him afterwards, and maybe he won't tell you things you find inconvenient – like that he agrees with me. Or I could point out to you all the member of my family that would turn something like this into a big deal just because they can – have fun trying to get them to bother with you."

Kururugi stared at him. "I-I'm sorry, your Highness, I didn't mean to-"

"Yes, yes, no one ever means to. They all just _do_. What is the matter with today's youth, anyway? Teenagers shouldn't be this serious – it's just _wrong_. And if you ever tell anyone I used the phrase 'today's youth' in earnest, I will hunt you down and poke you to death. Now, where were we? Ah, yes: stop being so dramatic. That's my forte of expertise."

"I..." But in the end, Kururugi simply closed his mouth again.

Clovis smiled. "Better. Not perfect yet – this wide-eyed look you're giving me is everything but dignified -, but better. I'm confident there is potential for further improvement."

"I... thank you, your Highness." It sounded more like a question than a statement.

Clovis beamed. "You're so cute!"

"W-... your Highness?"

Smiling merrily, Clovis reached out to pat the boy's head. "I think I'll keep you."

Kururugi stared, looking as if his brain had just died for the second time that day.

Clovis, drawing back his hand and still smiling, thought that he should stop messing with people's heads.

He had never been good with resolutions.

x x x

It was almost a week after the incident on Kamine Island that Clovis finally caught his brother alone again. Before that, Lelouch had mostly stayed away from the government building, inviting Euphie to discreetly visit him and Nunnally at Ashford, but refusing to come by for more than a short greeting and for once attending school like a good little student, claiming that the teachers had been giving him trouble for his constant absence.

Clovis hadn't been overly bored, considering two of his siblings as well as some other entertaining people had still been around - like Jeremiah, who actually wasn't such bad company -, and he had actually gotten to finish another project of his. Or, to be more precise, the smallest part of something he had planned for the future, but it didn't really matter – it had been entertaining enough.

His desire to throttle Lelouch for being an over-confident little brat had also lessened over time, and he had decided to wait for the right moment to approach the matter. His brother wouldn't even take note of his concerns if he rushed this, and it wasn't like snapping at him just to vent his frustration would solve anything.

"Can I come in?" he inquired politely.

"Would you listen if I told you not to?"

"Probably not." Giving his brother a charming smile, he stepped past him and inside the room, looking around idly. "I will never get how you mange to keep everything so neat even after having told the maids not to enter while you are around."

"Unlike _some_ people, I know how to clean up after myself."

"No need to get personal - I'm sure you will make a good wife one day."

"And you will make a good pizza if you don't stop being an idiot. Just say whatever it is you came here for or leave."

"Whatever gave you the idea I wanted to _say_ anything? There are much more interesting things you can do in a room like this."

"Now that you mention it, the carpet _does_ look as though you could wash blood out of it without too much trouble."

"Why, little brother, I didn't know you were into that kind of thing. But as they say – you learn something new everyday. Do you want to start out on the floor right away?"

"Sure. Just wait here, I will get a knife from the kitchens. A large, blunt one that will hurt."

"You really have the strangest fetishes – especially considering that you complained about a harmless little paint-brush only some months ago. How about we add some plastic Knightmares? Maybe one with a lance like the ones Cornelia seems to be so fond of... I wonder where she sticks them when there's no enemy around. Do you think that's why her subordinates are so uptight all the time?"

"I give up. You're disgusting."

"Thank you - I try." Clovis crossed the room and made himself comfortable on the bed. "So, what have you been up to?"

"Nothing in particular." Lelouch took a seat on the couch a few meters away from him, the wall in his back and a small, rather plain looking bookshelf to his left.

"Are you telling me you didn't even come up with a single devious plan in the last four days? Because then I would have to claim I've been celibate all this time."

Lelouch shrugged. "Believe what you want."

"Don't worry, I will," Clovis said casually, crossing his legs. "Now, what is it?"

"What?"

"You're thinking about something. Your remarks are snotty enough, but your mind is clearly elsewhere. So... what is it?"

"I know it's hard for you to comprehend, but some people don't need a special occasion to actually make use of their brain."

Clovis wasn't that easily baited. "True. But I've known you for long enough to know when you're brooding. Will you tell me, or do I need to pester you until you change your mind?"

He had expected his brother to make a condescending remark and prepare to take whatever it was that was bothering him to the grave just to spite him, and so he was surprised when Lelouch broke eye-contact and looked to the side. "She knows."

Clovis blinked. "What?"

"Euphie. She knows."

He needed a moment to understand what his brother was talking about. Then, he simply stared for several heartbeats before pulling himself together. "Well," he said. "She didn't tell anyone, did she?"

"No."

"Then it should be fine, shouldn't it?"

Lelouch still wasn't looking at him. "I didn't want her to know."

"Well, not everything can go according to you plans. She doesn't act like it bothers her, and she wouldn't do anything that could harm you. What else do you want?"

Lelouch was silent for a while. "She was sad," he eventually said, managing to sound both matter-of-fact and confused at the same time, and Clovis didn't think it was an answer to his question.

"What?"

"When she learned you and Jeremiah knew even though I didn't tell her, she looked... sad. And then I told her it wasn't because I didn't trust her, and she said she knew, but sounded even sadder."

Once again, Clovis blinked. For Lelouch to tell him this meant he really had no idea what to make of it, and had probably been trying to figure it out ever since Kamine Island. Suddenly, Clovis wasn't so sure anymore if his brother hadn't told the truth in saying that he hadn't done anything productive these last few days.

"For a genius, you really are an idiot," Clovis said. Lelouch looked at him in surprise, and he continued, "It's obvious."

"What do you mean?"

Clovis smiled, extending an arm. "Come here and I'll tell you."

Lelouch scowled at him, but didn't immediately refuse, obviously torn between his stubbornness and desire to know what was wrong with his younger half-sister. As Clovis had expected, his concern for Euphie eventually won, and he got up, coming to a halt in front of the outstretched hand and regarding it as if it was some especially ugly type of insect he was forced to pet before finally taking it.

Clovis gave him a satisfied smile and pulled him into his lap, quickly nuzzling his neck before he could protest and then gently pushing him off and onto the bed, because he knew Lelouch wouldn't tolerate being held like that. He leaned over him, his hands to either side of his brother's head, and smiled when Lelouch only gave him a dark look, clearly unimpressed. It was good to be able to push his little brother's buttons when he wanted to drive him up the wall a bit, but it was even better to see Lelouch so much at ease with a position like this - especially since he hadn't exactly given him a choice in the matter.

"As I said," Clovis told him, his lips only inches apart from his brother's, "you're an idiot. Of course she wouldn't be happy. Tell me, why didn't you want her to know?"

Lelouch's answer didn't come right away. No doubt he was debating on how honest his reply should be, and whether he should even give one. "Because it's not her fight," he eventually said. "She shouldn't have to worry about something that doesn't concern her."

"In other words, you want to protect her. But she's not made out of glass, Lelouch – and she doesn't want to be treated as though she were. It's natural that Cornelia should do something like that; after all, Euphie isn't a warrior, and that's a fact she just can't overlook. You don't want to know how many times she told me I should learn how to pilot a Knightmare, and even though Euphie has had basic training, it's not like she has ever taken part in an actual battle. But it's different with you – you don't think she needs protecting because she has never fought in a war. You look at her and only see her innocence, and by doing so, you make her feel as if she is incapable of taking care of herself, and as if there is nothing she can do for you or anyone else than being sweet and looking pretty. You say it doesn't concern her, but she loves you – of course she would want to be there for you."

Lelouch was openly staring at him by now. "How would you know that?" he finally asked.

Clovis shrugged, drawing back a little. "I would like to say it's common sense, but apparently, there are few people besides Nunnally and me who noticed. I guess it's because in a way, Euphie and I aren't all that different."

He smiled at Lelouch's incredulous look. "I don't really care what people think of me, but I notice when they believe I fail to understand how the world works. Take Cornelia, for example – she thinks I'm naive and an easy target to the point where she would like to charge in here and get rid of all the terrorists before she lets me do so much as move a finger again. Schneizel only doesn't notice when I'm twisting the truth because he doesn't believe me to be a skillful liar, and thinks me too light-hearted to ever pursue anything seriously. However, while I am doing my best not to dissuade them from those notions, it's different for Euphie – she wants to make people happy, but she can't do that if they don't even have enough faith in her to tell her when something is wrong."

He paused, then continued in a more flippant manner, "Ah, but keep in mind I can't help making things sound more dramatic than they really are. Just don't forget she won't break if you touch her and she will be fine. It's not like she is crying herself to sleep at night."

"You..."

"Really, little brother, just because you're socially retarded doesn't mean everyone is. I realize it must be hard for you to accept that even genius has limits, but don't look at me as if I'm a flying squirrel that suddenly started singing the national anthem. I _do_ posses some measure of intelligence, you know?" He lowered his head, catching his brother's slightly parted lips in a soft kiss – it was just too tempting a sight.

Lelouch didn't stop him, simply not moving at first and then slowly beginning to reciprocate, and Clovis raised a hand to gently stroke his hair. Without pausing in his actions for longer than a heartbeat, he asked, "So, you used your Geass on your friend?"

For a split second, his brother stiffened beneath him, before he broke the kiss and looked at him coolly. "So?"

"I was just wondering..." Clovis pulled back his hand. "Even when the two of you fought over the issue of the Lancelot, you never resorted to that ability of yours to just put an end to the problem, did you? In fact, you even told me not to interfere with Lloyd's project. I got the impression your friend's wishes mean a lot to you, so what made you change your mind?"

"How about impending doom?"

"Why, don't tell me you're actually developing a sense of self-preservation. What comes next, a good, healthy sex-drive?" Lelouch just continued to fix him with a cold gaze, and Clovis smiled before tilting his head. "So, you told him to escape?"

"To live."

Clovis blinked. "Isn't that a bit general?"

"Yes." Lelouch's tone was devoid of emotion.

"I see..." Actually, he didn't. Did that mean Kururugi pulled stunts like that often, or had his brother simply acted without thinking? The latter seemed oddly uncharacteristic and was hard to imagine, even under circumstances as dire as the ones on Shikine Island. And now that he thought about it, the first option would certainly explain some things. "Do you feel bad?"

"For saving his life?"

"Yes."

A short pause. "Maybe."

"If it makes you feel any better, Cecile told me he's doing fine. Or at least, much better than when he found out about what he did. I can see why this would wear on your conscience, but it's not like you had much of a choice."

"I know. I still didn't-" Lelouch broke off, whatever expression there had been on his face vanishing, and Clovis knew he wouldn't get much more out of him.

So instead of trying, he started kissing him again.

Lelouch didn't even take a second to respond - at first quite forcefully, but after some time he slowed down again, actually closing his eyes and letting Clovis decide the pace for once.

Clovis had to admit he was somewhat surprised by that, but he appreciated the rare compliance nonetheless. He played with his brother's hair and caressed his cheek, the movements of his mouth remaining soft and without haste as he let his hand travel down Lelouch's throat and torso, allowing it to linger on his brother's groin before letting it return upwards. He pushed aside the shirt covering Lelouch's slender upper-body, exposing a pale stomach, and slid his hand under the dark fabric to run it over his brother's chest and hardening nipples.

Lelouch moaned into his mouth, almost soundlessly, and took hold of Clovis' head as his tongue effortlessly moved past the blond prince's lips.

When the kiss ended, Lelouch was panting, and Clovis smiled. _Dying goldfish indeed_.

But he didn't say anything, nibbling his little brother's earlobe and slowly making his way down his throat. Lelouch actually tilted his head to make things easier for him, and Clovis showed his appreciation by focusing on his collar area for longer than he had originally intended, using his lips and teeth to get some more very appealing noises out of the boy before moving on.

Pulling out his hand from beneath his brother's clothes, he slid backwards on the silken sheets, lowering his head to trail soft kisses down Lelouch's belly. When his lips brushed the navel, his brother's legs shifted, and Clovis happily added the spot to the mental list of his younger sibling's weak points he kept. He darted out his tongue, teasingly, and wasn't at all deterred when he didn't immediately get the intended reaction, refusing to give up until he had achieved his goal. The way his brother moved an arm or leg from time to time, seemingly casually, only served to enhance his resolve.

After several seconds, maybe even half a minute, he finally got a moan out of Lelouch, and he was so pleased that he once more swirled his tongue inside his brother's navel to produce another one before he pulled back down the dark shirt and assumed properly unbuttoning it. While his fingers worked on the impractical garments, his mouth paid some more attention to the pale flesh of Lelouch's stomach and the pink peaks he encountered as he progressed upwards, until it eventually paused on his brother's collar bone, nibbling and licking until soft groans rewarded his efforts.

x x x

Lelouch tried not to appear too eager, but found that as long as he wasn't prepared to fight tooth and nails against the effects of his brother's ministrations, it was a nearly impossible task.

This became even clearer when Clovis' hand found its way into his pants, grasping the proof of his enjoyment as his poorly contained moan was swallowed by the mouth that was suddenly covering his own again.

Before he could regain his breath enough to reciprocate, Clovis pulled back, and even though Lelouch's desire to bite him easily overrode that of kissing him at that moment, he didn't make any attempt to detain his brother as he proceeded to relieve him of the rest of his clothes, settling for simply glaring at his presumptuous relative and actually being more forthcoming than deliberately unhelpful, even as it became obvious that Clovis wasn't at all bothered by the rather annoyed quality of his gaze.

Shooting him a smile that very much attested to that, his brother lowered his head between his legs, and when soft lips brushed the tip of his erection in something too light to be called a kiss and too lingering to be referred to as anything else, Lelouch arched his hips. He reached out to grasp his brother's hair, but was stopped by a hand seizing his wrist, and he redirected his attention to the other prince's face with a scowl.

Clovis answered it with yet another unperturbed smile.

His brother released him, and Lelouch let his hand inconsequentially sink back onto the mattress.

Once more, Clovis quirked his lips at him, this time in satisfaction. He ran a hand up Lelouch's inner thigh and then slowly repeated the action with his mouth, nibbling and teasing the sensitive skin as he did so, and continued without pause when he reached what without any doubt had been his destination from the start. Lelouch sank his fingers into the mattress when his testicles were engulfed in wet warmth, and dug them in deeper when the warmth vanished again, just to be replaced by a skillful tongue making its way to the base of his shaft and upwards from there, in a manner that made it difficult to believe that it might be missing even a single inch of the hardened length.

By the time it reached the head of his penis, Lelouch was already incapable of forming a single coherent thought, and when Clovis' lips ghosted over his arousal once more, softly blowing air on the hot wet skin, the effect was instantaneous. All his carefully cultivated self-control evaporated within a heartbeat and he jolted, his hand reaching for his brother's hair almost on its own volition and with the speed of a startled rattlesnake. But it seemed Clovis had expected that reaction, because he caught Lelouch's wrist with no more effort than before, and did the same with the other one when Lelouch wasn't so agreeable this time.

With infuriating gentleness, he pinned them to the mattress. "Patience, little brother."

Lelouch gave him a look that promised an eternity of pain and suffering, but Clovis proved to be as immune to the unspoken threat as ever, his hold on his younger brother's arms only gradually loosening as he went back to toying with genitals that very much appreciated the attention, kissing and nuzzling them before pressing his mouth to the tip of the erection again, taking it into his mouth without haste. Lelouch wanted to writhe, to moan, to seize his brother's skull and fuck his mouth to the point where he wouldn't have to hear his annoying voice for the rest of the month, but did neither, since the by far most appealing option had been taken away from him and he was too angry to settle for one of the other two.

But he hadn't counted on Clovis doing anything but suck; so when he suddenly felt sharp teeth lightly grazing his shaft, starting out somewhere below the middle and then moving upwards in a way that reminded Lelouch dangerously of a knife gently running over someone's throat, it was all he could do not to jerk backwards. At the same time, the sensation itself was far from unpleasant, and only a heartbeat later, he had to forcefully prevent himself from arching his hips – he probably wouldn't have succeeded if there hadn't been a possibility of very acute pain in an area where he would rather avoid it if he failed to restrain himself. He didn't think his brother had any intention of seriously hurting him – if he did, he would have grabbed the nearest potentially lethal object and ended this right then and there -, but he didn't quite trust him not to do it anyway, simply out of carelessness or because he defined "seriously hurting" differently than him.

However, Lelouch had to admit there was a certain _thrill_ to this, and he closed his eyes when he felt that what had been left of his anger slowly but surely lose to another emotion, one that, once it had taken the upper hand, made him gasp and moan and wonder if it was possible to put holes into a bed-sheet and the underlying mattress simply by forcefully driving one's fingernails into them.

He didn't think he could keep still much longer, and he considered informing his tormentor of this, but since his thought process had become rather faulty in the last few minutes, and because there was something in him resenting the very idea of saying anything, what eventually came out was a sound neither plea nor curse.

He wasn't sure if his dire state was that obvious or if it was merely coincidence, but no two seconds later, the teeth were gone, and what remained were a warm mouth and a wet tongue that finally devoured him. He gasped, rocking his hips, and he knew he would climax any moment now. The sensation was just too intense, too close to being painful, and by the time he realized he was squirming and grabbing the dark silk between his hands so hard his fingers hurt, he was almost there already.

Then, suddenly, his brother stopped, and the heat that had been enveloping his hardened length was replaced by the coolness of the air once more. The warm hand that settled between his legs not much later almost chased it away, but its movements were slow and casual, and there was no indication that it would change its pace any time soon.

Lelouch bit his tongue and opened his eyes, meeting the gaze of his smiling brother. He tried to glare at him, but since he didn't manage to stop pressing into Clovis' hand while doing so, it probably wasn't very convincing.

In one fluid motion, his brother leaned over him, placing his mouth next to Lelouch's ear. "This," he said softly, "is for making me worry."

x x x

When Lelouch had finally comprehended the words, his reaction was instantaneous, but it was the vehemence behind it that surprised Clovis.

"Fuck you!"

His brother tried to push him off, but being the physically hopeless case he was, it was a rather pitiful attempt. His current condition probably didn't help.

Clovis grabbed his shoulders and pushed him back down, readjusting his legs so that one knee pressed against his younger sibling's groin, and the resistance vanished as Lelouch tried to stifle a moan and failed.

"Now you're overreacting. It's not like I've never drawn things out before. Admittedly, the circumstances were a bit different, but you didn't seem to mind so terribly then."

"Fuck you," his brother repeated, this time less heatedly, the anger simmering just below the surface.

"Maybe later. Except you _really_ want me to, of course." Clovis smiled at the furious boy, who was looking at him as though he wanted him to die a slow, painful death right then and there, and shifted the leg that was still touching a very interesting spot. It worked. "Don't worry," he said, nibbling Lelouch's throat, "I have no intention of leaving you like this. Just be patient – I promise it will be worth it."

"Aren't you contradicting yourself?"

Clovis blinked, before tilting his head. "Yes, I suppose I am. A bit of prolonged pleasure would hardly serve to teach anyone a lesson, would it? Least of all you. Did it sound like that was my aim? Luckily for you, I'm not the one suffering from megalomania here. I guess you can consider this an act of petty revenge–" he brushed his lips over his brother's- "a very _fun_ sort of petty revenge."

"Fuck", Lelouch said, but it had become a curse rather than an insult, and this time, Clovis didn't stop him when he buried a hand inside his hair. The ensuing kiss was a rather violent one, and Clovis wondered if his brother had decided at one point that if he didn't have an adequate murder weapon at hand, he might as well use his tongue.

Predictably, even as Lelouch finally let him pull away and he slid backwards to return his focus on the area just below the boy's waist line, the hand in his hair didn't let go, and when his little brother roughly pushed him downwards, he obediently took the still hard shaft into his mouth again. Just _how_ affected Lelouch had remained this whole time showed in the almost spasming movement of his hips, the way he gasped the moment Clovis' lips made contact with his skin and in every single one of the equally delicious sounds that followed.

Clovis had been planning to continue taking his time - because it was more fun that way, and to turn this into a truly mind-blowing experience for his little brother -, but now he realized it wouldn't work that way. Lelouch would kill him if he went slowly about this – or at the very least, he would rip at his hair and scratch the skin below bloody to an extent that made the prospect rather unattractive. And even if Clovis hadn't been worried about the consequences such an approach might have on his appearance, it was painfully obvious that Lelouch wouldn't be able to withstand this kind of subtle torture for much longer. He was panting and sweating, with tremors running through his entire body for every little touch he was subjected to, and even though sending him into oblivion had seemed like a nice idea, sending him into a coma would be somewhat over the top.

So Clovis silently applauded the boy for his self-control up until now and decided to make it short and good instead of prolonged and exceptional; but he couldn't help holding Lelouch down by his hips to let his teeth one last time ghost over the sensitive flesh between them, just long enough for his brother to still and unfreeze again, all the while being careful not to accidentally hurt him and stopping as soon as Lelouch arched his back and dug his fingers deeper into his hair, pausing for only a second before finally starting to suck.

He thought that Lelouch made the most interesting noises when he was on edge.

His brother didn't manage to hold it for much longer – not that he had tried in the first place -, and when he came, he did so with a cry that would most likely have woken up every person in the building if he hadn't succeeded in stifling it at the last moment, turning it into a curious kind of half-moan Clovis knew he wanted to hear again.

Not immediately, though.

He let his tongue trail down his little brother's inner thigh, pleased but not surprised to note that there was barely a stain visible on the sheets between those trembling legs, and then sat up, just to rest his head on Lelouch's chest a moment later. Idly tracing delicate ribs with his fingers, he listened to his little brother's breathing, which, he thought with a small, amused smile, was another thing very well capable of startling the other occupants of the building out of their sleep.

He waited until the sounds his brother was making had more in common with a particular noisy breed of tripod hippopotamus running from a roaring dragon than with someone suffering from a rare lunge condition leading to a very slow, very _audible_ death trying to carry their heavily obese grandmother up the stairs before peering up at him curiously. "Should I flee now, or am I forgiven?"

"I'm... going to... kill you." Despite the rather extended pauses in-between the words filled by gasps, it was a promise.

"Aw, come on. It wasn't so bad, was it?"

"Slowly... painfully..."

"In combination with the raspy breathing and the look you're giving me, that sounds rather creepy."

"...feed you to C.C..."

"Could you stop fantasizing about my gory end? It's the one fetish you really don't need to exhibit in my presence." Lelouch didn't look like he cared, and Clovis lifted his head from the boy's chest. "You liked it, didn't you?"

His brother narrowed his eyes at him, and Clovis moved forwards until their lips were almost touching. "Don't be mad." He kissed his brother's chin. "I didn't think you would take it so seriously."

x x x

"Don't even try." Lelouch was happy to discover there actually was air inside his lungs again.

"Try what?" Clovis tilted his head, as if he had really no idea what he was talking about.

"You can give me as many of those pathetic looks as you want, it won't work this time."

His brother blinked at him, apparently surprised, before his formerly apologetic expression changed into something else.

Lelouch didn't like it.

"Then tell me... what must I do so that you will forgive me?" Clovis' lips grazed his own, the hot breath seeming to linger on his skin. "Would retribution appease you?" His brother's voice had taken on a husky quality. "Do you want to _punish me_, Lelouch?"

Lelouch didn't quite manage to refrain from staring.

Then he not-so gently pushed his brother out of his face. "God, you're impossible!"

Clovis smiled meaningfully. "Then maybe you should do something about it." Slowly, he leaned over him once more. "Punish me," he breathed into his ear, and Lelouch shivered.

He reached out to shove his brother off, but then paused. Thinking better of it, he only gave Clovis a light push so that the other prince moved back to look at him, and then, inch by inch, leaned forwards, until their mouthes almost made contact again.

Clovis moved closer every so slightly, tilting his head, and Lelouch looked at his brother's half-lidded eyes for a very long time before softly speaking against his lips, "No."

His brother's eyes snapped open, and the look on his face was priceless – Lelouch almost laughed.

But he caught himself just in time and smirked evilly instead. "I think I'll be gracious and consider us even."

Eventually, Clovis recovered. "Thank you," he replied dryly and got up. "If you'd excuse me – I think I'll be off to the bathroom."

x x x

"You're an insufferable little brat, you know that?" Clovis asked as he sat down on the bed again.

"Why, thank you. From an obnoxious idiot such as yourself, that's quite the compliment."

Clovis wondered whatever had gotten Lelouch into this almost playful mood so suddenly. It was bizarre... and rather annoying.

"Shouldn't you be dying from exhaustion?"

"Actually, I feel fine - but thank you for your concern."

"Ah, I see. As long as you don't try to do so much as lift an arm, you won't faint right away. That's rather reassuring – maybe there's a limit to how physically pathetic a person can be, after all."

"Yes, I discovered that the only thing that doesn't have limits is stupidity. But I suppose that doesn't bother you – after all, temperance has never been your thing, has it?"

"If this is the result of a bit of undue teasing, be assured I'll never do it again. I think I'd actually prefer it if you threw a fit. This is just... odd."

"I think the word you are looking for is 'irritating'."

"Actually, I was just being polite. The word I had in mind is 'creepy'."

"Then maybe you should leave? Who knows - I might just develop a fondness for pizza."

"And grow green hair and breasts? I'm afraid I have to stick around to see that, even if the mere thought sends shivers down my spine."

"Oh, I forgot. You're a masochist, after all."

"Indeed. Even though I have to say, thinking about _that person_ is somewhat of a turn-off, so I'd appreciate it if we could change the subject at this point."

"There is actually something that you consider a turn-off?"

"Ah, little brother, there are _several_ things I consider a turn-off. Like people inserting slugs into their-"

"_Don't!_ _Don't_ finish that sentence!"

Clovis smiled. "Now that's much cuter. Does that mean I have to continue talking about especially unappetizing practices to get you to stop being an annoying little smart-ass?"

"If you want me to throw you out, try it."

"My, my, aren't we lacking hospitality. Oh well, I won't say anything if you stop being a pain."

Lelouch's eyes narrowed, the dark look in them a silent challenge. "Do you think I would let myself be blackmailed by you?"

"No. But I think I could get you to throw up in less than five minutes, so why not save both of us further unpleasantries and be civil?"

"How about because I don't feel like it, and because I won't _need_ five minutes to make sure you find yourself outside a securely locked door if you try?"

"Ah, selfishness is such a nasty trait. It's not becoming of someone so beautiful."

"The more beautiful something is, the more poisonous it tends to be."

Clovis tapped his chin. "Doesn't that mostly apply to amphibians? You seem to be having a thing for peculiar comparisons lately. But thinking about it... 'The Frog-Prince'. I suppose it's fitting. If I remember correctly, that one also was a rather imperious creature. Maybe I should try throwing you against a wall? Then again, I don't think it made the frog less impudent – just more attractive, and that's the one thing that doesn't need fixing in this case. Hm... oh well." He shrugged and bent down to his brother. "I always preferred the version involving the kissing, anyway."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Lelouch said, but he didn't protest as Clovis pressed his lips onto his.

It wasn't a harsh or even passionate kiss, and Clovis was glad after all that his little brother had decided not to hold what he had done earlier against him. In retrospect, he did feel a bit guilty about it. He _had_ been annoyed at Lelouch for his recklessness – still was, in fact -, but there had been no malice behind his actions. It had all been just harmless fun to him, and he hadn't stopped to consider that his little brother's excessive pride and limited experience might cause him to take offense. It had simply been stupidity on his part that had led him to overstep his bounds, and it had been a pretty ungrateful kind of mistake for him to make considering Lelouch had been nice enough to play along until then.

The soft kiss was an apology more than anything else, and he thought it was rather sweet of his brother to actually yield for a second before reciprocating with just the tiniest bit more force behind the movements of his tongue.

"I _did_ worry, you know," he said when they parted again. Lelouch didn't react, and he sighed, burying his head in his brother's neck. "Can't you be a bit more careful? My nerves really would appreciate it."

"Hearing you, one could think I'm doing it for the kicks."

Clovis looked up at him. "That's not what I'm saying, Lelouch. I know you wouldn't risk causing Nunnally grief so easily. But sometimes, it really doesn't feel like it, and I can't help but wonder if things like the incident on Shikine Island are really necessary."

"Don't concern yourself," Lelouch said, the utter lack of expression on his face making the words sound even more dismissive than they already did. "If it comes down to it, you can always tell Schneizel about Geass. With all the data Code R has gathered, it shouldn't be very hard to get him to believe you, and from there on, convincing him I forced you to help me would be easy."

Clovis stared at his brother. The boy's aristocratic features were unreadable, and he had no idea if Lelouch was being deliberately callous or actually serious.

"I can tell you already," he eventually replied, "that this isn't what I would be doing in the event of your death. Rather, I would drag you back from wherever it is people end up when they die to send you there again myself."

"I didn't take you for an agnostic," Lelouch said.

"Now who is trying to analyze whose psyche? Stop missing my point on purpose."

"I don't think I will. Maybe after getting a taste of your own medicine, you will think twice about twisting my every word to suit your unsavory purposes next time."

"Do you really believe that?"

"No."

"Good. I thought you'd lost it there for a second." Clovis paused. "You're not going to listen to me no matter what I say, are you?"

Lelouch didn't even bother giving him an answer.

Clovis sighed. "Oh well," he said, gently kissing his brother once more before resignedly lying back down. "No such thing as a cat owner, after all."

"What?"

"Nothing."

x x x

When Lelouch awoke in the morning, he did so to his brother dropping a violet envelope into his lap.

He stared.

"What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Open it."

"It's addressed to you."

"An astute observation. Now open it." Despite his brother's words, he looked decisively uncomfortable.

"...What did you do this time?"

Clovis fidgeted. "Nothing."

"Then why are you afraid Cornelia sent you a letter bomb?"

"I didn't mean to, I swear!" Clovis blurted out. "But I was bored, and Schneizel was busy, and he was standing there, and I just acted without thinking! And anyway, you can't blame me - he only arrived two days ago and already looked like something had crawled up his ass and died!"

Lelouch needed several seconds to process the information. "Are you telling me you came on to Darlton?"

"I only wanted to see another expression on his face for once!" Clovis defended. "I will admit that the means were slightly unconventional, but it's _his_ fault!"

"...I think I'm going to be sick."

"That 's fine – as long as you open that letter first. No, wait, do it after I have left the room. If this was a false alarm ans she doesn't know anything, tell me later. If not... do you think hiding behind Euphie for the rest of my life would help?"

"That depends. How long do you want this 'rest' to be?"

"Oh God," Clovis groaned, "I'm dead, aren't I?"

"Look at it this way: at least you didn't try anything on Guilford."

Clovis coughed. "Actually..."

"Are you serious? He's not even _here_!"

"Well... he picked up the phone that one time..."

"Is there anyone I know besides our sisters you _wouldn't_ jump?"

"...My mother?"

"Don't make it sound like a question!"

.

.

**End of Chapter**

* * *

**Author's Note:** I must confess at this point that Clovis planted evil ideas in my head with his reference to "The Frog Prince". So, don't be surprised if you encounter a Code Geass version of the tale around here very soon. In fact, I get the feeling that the almighty randomness will not be appeased by just that, and that the fairy tales will keep trying to lure me.

But they have pizza, so that's all right.

_*waves*_  
Till then!


	8. Cave Canem

Real life is still being evil, and the next chapter might take no less time to appear than this one. However, this story is definitely the one that comes first on my list, so be assured I'll try my best!

For those not familiar with Latin and curious about the chapter title: "cave canem" means "beware of the dog".

And actually, I think that's always a good advice!

That said...

Enjoy!

**Chapter Title:** Cave Canem

**Rating:** M

**Additional Warnings:** Randomness. Barking things. Random barking things.  
Also, ruthless abuse of shoes and Picture Dramas – beware!

* * *

**Pleasures of Art  
- Chapter 8**

.

.

"What... is _that_?"

"Hm..." Clovis tapped his chin. "How to put it in a way you would understand?" He smiled. "_Canis lupus familiaris_. A canid belonging to the order Carnivora, and the domestic form of the Canis lupus, more commonly known as gray wolf. Us normal people with restricted mental capabilities also tend to refer to it as _dog_, but of course, that would be too easy."

"I can see what it is," Lelouch said flatly. "What is it _doing_ here?"

Clovis shifted his gaze to the animal. "Why, I believe it is is gnawing at your wardrobe." He tilted his head. "Do you think it might be expressing its disapproval of your choice of attire?"

"In that case, I _think_ it would be beneficial to its health if it kept its opinion to itself."

Clovis rolled his eyes, but went over to the animal and picked it up. "Come here, Cleopatra. That horrible boy doesn't want you to speak your mind."

"It's a _dog_," Lelouch said. He paused. "_Cleopatra_?"

"A pretty name for a pretty lady," Clovis told him, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"It's a _dog_," Lelouch repeated.

"She has a name. Please be so kind as to address her by it."

"I am _referring_ to it."

"Her," Clovis corrected and sat down next to him, the dog in his lap. It immediately wiggled out of his grasp and all but pressed its nose into Lelouch's face, who only barely managed to shove it away before it could slobber all over him.

"Get that thing out of my bed!"

"Would you stop that? You will hurt her feelings." Clovis bent down to the dog and scratched its ears. "Don't listen to him, Cleopatra. He is socially retarded – he can't help it."

Lelouch wondered if Clovis had finally lost it _completely_.

Apparently, his brother had followed his line of thought, because he looked up at him and grinned. "Ah, all right, I didn't propose to her yet, and neither did I pick her up at a ball. Euphie found her while getting acquainted with the city, and because the poor thing's owner was nowhere to be found, she brought her here for now." He raised both of the dog's paws, and it didn't do Lelouch the favor of biting off his brother's hands. "But she's cute, isn't she?"

"It's a _poodle_," Lelouch said.

"If you keep stating the obvious, Cleopatra will begin to doubt your intelligence."

"If she has been spending as much time in your company as it looks like, I'm sure she would take even Odysseus for a genius."

Clovis held up a finger in admonishment. "You should not underhandedly insult your siblings' intelligence."

"Ah, but doing so outrightly would imply a lack of etiquette, don't you think?"

"Indeed. Cleopatra could mistake you for an ill-mannered little brat and blame me for carelessly having brought her into unsophisticated company."

"If you keep anthropomorphizing this dog, I will hit you."

"Oh my. Make sure you don't accidentally poke me in the eye - it might actually hurt."

Lelouch grimaced as the poodle – a not-quite middle-sized, white-coated beast whose fur probably had seen better days – attempted another assault, its small tail waggling stupidly as a wet pink tongue went straight for Lelouch's mouth. He leaned away just in time, shooting his brother an annoyed look.

Clovis obviously wasn't bothered, pulling the dog back without haste and petting it. "Well, no one can say she doesn't have taste."

"This is disgusting."

"Don't be crude." Lelouch watched his brother merrily wave the dog's paw at him, wondering if suddenly waking up in an insane asylum one morning would feel something like this.

"Oh, she's so cute!" Clovis cooed. Actually _cooed_. "I think I will adopt her!"

"Out. Now."

"But Lelouch, isn't she _adorable_?"

"Out!"

Clovis sighed, but didn't even look at him as he got up. "Come, Cleopatra, uncle Lelouch is being grumpy – he feels you threaten his masculinity. Let's go looking for aunt Euphie!"

Lelouch wordlessly buried his head in the pillow.

x x x

"What do you think?" Clovis asked cheerfully.

"It's pink," Lelouch said, trying very hard not to sound incredulous.

"Yes! Isn't it lovely? I thought about applying the dye a bit more generously, but her fur is such a _dazzling_ white – I just didn't have the heart. It looks like a little hat this way, doesn't it?"

Lelouch lowered the glass he had been about to drink from. "It looks so hideous that I wonder how you can call yourself an artist."

To Lelouch's great chagrin, his brother directed his reply at the dog instead of him, "Did you hear that, Cleopatra? Mister Grumpy is being especially cranky this morning. Do you think something crawled up his ass and died, too? Oh my, but you really shouldn't have peed on Darlton's shoes..."

Lelouch stared. "Peed on Darlton's..."

"Shoes, yes," Clovis turned back to him, a blithe smile on his face. "It was terribly amusing. Euphie thought so, too – after she had gotten over the initial surprise and properly chided Cleopatra for it."

"If that thing urinates anywhere near me-"

"Oh no," Clovis assured him. "Cleopatra is a lady. She will wait until you have left the room – the thing with Darlton was an accident. I think she was so shocked that someone could be _that serious_ all the time that it just kind of-"

"Clovis."

"All right - no details."

"Thank you," Lelouch said dryly.

"Ah, but don't worry! She likes you, so maybe she won't attempt to ruin your furniture."

"It could convince me to not attempt to hand her over to the nearest butcher."

"I think Euphie's obvious attachment to her will suffice for that. And I'm sure Nunnally will love her, too!"

"You will _not_ bring that beast anywhere near my sister."

"You're right – Euphie will do that. She is in far less danger of being strangled by you for a harmless, innocent deed."

"You-"

"Ah, think of your blood-pressure, little brother!"

Reminding himself that killing Clovis would not be beneficial to his plans, Lelouch took a deep breath.

And another one.

And when it still didn't help, he glared at the poodle sniffing at his chair. That damned dog had the nerve to not even notice. "Can't you go annoy someone else?" he asked his brother, who was standing right next to the little beast and smiling at it as a young mother might smile at her child – it was the kind of smile that would remain even if the beloved offspring threw its breakfast at a random stranger or stole a toy at a supermarket.

"I'm afraid not. Euphie will be still asleep, Darlton might attempt to murder Cleopatra – you never know with the strong, silent ones who just lost their favorite shoes in a tragic accident -, and Schneizel... well."

"Well?"

"Ah... he said he would be returning to the Avalon today, and I have a feeling he won't be back for a while."

Lelouch raised his brows. "I thought he was done on Kamine Island?"

"He is. It's just... ah... I don't think he likes Cleopatra very much."

"Really? I would have expected him to pat her politely and pretend that you aren't an annoying moron."

"Oh, he did that," Clovis said, ignoring the insult. "However..."

"However?" Lelouch asked, using the precious moment of calm to take a sip from the glass he was still holding.

"He got a bit cross when she ate his underwear."

Lelouch almost spat the water into his brother's face. "_What_?"

His brother patted him on the back absently as he unsuccessfully tried to reign in his coughing fit. "You're right, that was the wrong word. Schneizel doesn't get 'cross'. Still, he wasn't very happy about it."

"How did... no, wait. I don't want to know."

"Thought so."

Lelouch looked down suspiciously. When he found that the poodle was indeed inspecting his feet now, he grew slightly worried.

He rather liked his shoes.

"Would you mind removing that dog from my quarters now?" he asked.

Clovis seemed to ponder that for a moment before he finally shrugged. "Ah, all right. Her haircut isn't complete yet – I should use the time to do something productive." He leaned down to kiss him, but Lelouch quickly foiled the attempt.

Putting a hand to his brother's chest, he decisively pushed him away. "You're worse than that mutt of yours. And I certainly won't have your mouth anywhere near me when you probably let that thing drool all over you."

"Please," Clovis scoffed. "You're the only person besides Euphie she has tried to jump so far – obviously, she is into the feminine ones."

"And Schneizel's underwear. Now please leave, before I throw up."

"Hm...," he heard Clovis murmur as his brother picked up the dog. "Did you find Schneizel's underwear to be feminine, Cleopatra? Now that I think about it, it was-" Thankfully, that was when the door closed behind him.

Lelouch didn't think he would open it again any time soon.

x x x

When Clovis intruded upon his room once more that day, just a few hours before Lelouch intended to take his leave, he was extremely relieved to find that there was no annoying pet dog with him.

"Don't tell me she dumped you."

"Don't be ridiculous," Clovis said as he stepped inside. "I have never been 'dumped' in my life, and unlike certain people, Cleopatra isn't so socially challenged that she would not recognize pleasant company when she is graced with it. No, I left her with Euphie, since you refuse to provide our sister with the entertainment she deserves."

"I will see her later," Lelouch replied with a shrug and sat down on the bed. Euphie had taken it upon herself to visit him and Nunnally at Ashford as often as possible, and as far as he was concerned, that was enough. There were things he felt no desire to discuss with his younger half-sister – things that would only make everything harder, for both of them.

"You still haven't talked to her, have you?"

"I have talked to her about a lot of things."

"But not the important ones." Lelouch gave his brother a cool look, and Clovis smiled at him. "You're so predictable - it's a wonder the strategies you come up with aren't as painfully obvious."

"Like yours, you mean?"

"Did your skip your etiquette lessons as frequently as you skip school?"

"At least I am enrolled in one."

"I will let you know that home-schooling has much more class."

"Really? Well, maybe, if you don't spend the whole time drawing."

"It's not my fault the teachers were as exciting as a chess match with Odysseus."

"And as educating, no doubt."

"At least I recognize a dog when I see one."

"I also have a habit of recognizing things with a level of intelligence similar to mine. Sadly, not everyone can lead a satisfactory conversation with a pet. Then again, I am talking to you, so I guess I'm in no position to criticize."

"Oh, so I'm your pet now?" Clovis tilted his head, smiling. "Well, I suppose I can live with that."

"Yes, until I dye your hair pink and tell you it 'looks like a little hat'," Lelouch retorted, still unable to believe that anyone could be that deranged.

"Ah, if it's you, I wouldn't even bite you for it... too badly." Clovis licked his lips demonstratively. "Would I also be allowed to 'drool all over you'?"

"Not before you have mastered 'quiet', 'down' and 'roll over'."

"Hm... I think I could do that. What about 'speak', 'kiss' and '_come_'?"

"Only if you're good."

"Then maybe we should start practicing." Clovis' tone of voice left no doubt as to which part he was referring to.

"All right," Lelouch said, taking the folder he had been going through before he had been interrupted from the bedside table. "Quiet."

"This is why you should never own a pet," his brother noted, and Lelouch knew he was rolling his eyes. He felt the mattress shift, but didn't bother looking up.

There were several minutes of surprising but welcome silence before Clovis suddenly ducked under the document in Lelouch's hands and placed his head in his lap. When Lelouch raised a brow at him, his brother grinned.

"Wuff."

x x x

"Can't you stay for a bit longer?"

"So that you can go get that mutt of yours and let it eat my shoes or worse? I don't think so."

"But it's so boring here without anyone around!"

"Then maybe you shouldn't have chased off Schneizel."

"You know you don't mean that."

"That's because I'm not the one whining here. If you wanted someone to annoy, you should have considered the consequences of your actions."

"You make it sound like _I'm_ the one who ate his underwear."

"I wouldn't put it past you."

"Why, I'm flattered by the amount of thought you must have put into this matter before you arrived at that conclusion. Is that why you were reading so slowly?"

"Actually, I was contemplating the extent of your idiocy. I tried to remember occasions on which you have shown signs of intelligence, but ended up counting the ones on which the opposite was the case due to a lack of working material. Needless to say, it kept me busy for a while."

"So you were thinking about me this whole time? Aw, that's so romantic! It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy."

"You really like twisting my words to fit your warped mind, don't you?"

Clovis flashed him a brilliant smile. "Of course."

Lelouch rolled his eyes and put the already closed folder aside. "Would you mind getting off me now?"

"In fact, I would." Clovis wrapped his arms around his legs and snuggled against him. "Don't leave yet."

"Get off," Lelouch ordered.

"But Lelouch, I will die of boredom!"

"I'm sure 'Cleopatra' will be devastated. Now get off."

Clovis rolled onto his back and looked up at him with eyes wide as those of a puppy asking for a treat. "Please?" he said in a voice that probably was supposed to sound pitiful. Lelouch had to admit it might even have worked on the Witch of Britannia herself – but that had less to do with Clovis' acting skills than with Cornelia's willingness to let herself be swayed by them.

Lelouch, on the other hand, had no intention of falling for such an obvious attempt to manipulate him.

"Stop being pathetic. Even if I wanted to – which, I assure you, is not the case -, I couldn't stay. It's only a few more hours until dinner, and if you think I would let Nunnally eat alone, you are really more of an idiot than I thought. For the sake of everyone who has to tolerate you, I seriously hope that that's not possible."

But Clovis didn't even appear to have heard the last part. "Hours?"

"Don't even think about it. I have things to do."

"Hm...," murmured Clovis and lifted his head. "Is that so?"

"What a-... oh no, you don't."

"Ah, much more comfortable this way, don't you think?"

"If you don't move this instant-"

"Like this?" his brother asked innocently.

Lelouch bit back a moan when Clovis' head pressed against a part of his body that _certainly_ wasn't a cushion. "I'm serious," he hissed through gritted teeth. "If you don't-"

"Oh my, don't get all grumpy again." His brother rolled back onto the side, this time facing him, and Lelouch continued to glare at him even as the pressure on _that spot_ disappeared. Clovis only smiled. "Ah, I wouldn't want to risk your wrath. After all, I rather like my special privileges - I make a good lap dog, wouldn't you say? Then again, I'm good at _everything_, so that's not really surprising."

"Everything that doesn't require the use of brain cells or common sense, you mean."

"I always thought common sense was overrated. It's _common_, after all. Employing it would go against my principles."

"I noticed. Now get off, before I end up destroying what little intellectual capacities you have left."

"You know," Clovis said, "I think that is the most flowery periphrasis for 'fucking you senseless' I have ever heard."

Lelouch fought the urge to violently rub his temples. Fleetingly, he wondered whether being exposed to unusual amounts of stupidity for prolonged periods of time could result in a severe case of migraine. "I can't believe you just said that."

"Why?" Clovis asked curiously. "Because it lacked eloquence?"

"_Because_," Lelouch said, "I obviously underestimated the extent of your stupidity."

"After all those years, you still have faith in my sense of decency? That's kind of sad. Or cute, depending on how you look at it."

"If anything, I had faith in the overly optimistic belief that there is no such thing as a negative intelligence quotient. Now _get off_." He attempted to give his brother a non-too gentle shove to emphasize his point, but Clovis caught his wrists before he could do so much as touch him. When the blond prince let go again a few seconds later, it was only to wrap an arm around his younger brother's waist and smile up at him in a way that made Lelouch want to punch him.

"Ah, don't be so cold. Just one more hour?"

Lelouch narrowed his eyes. If his brother thought he could talk him into going along with his every whim like he did with everyone else, then he was in for a rude awakening. "I'm not going to repeat myself," he stated coldly, pushing Clovis' arm off and straightening his shoulders. He would not allow his schedule to get messed up by a clingy moron – and if he had to personally throw him off and onto the floor.

His brother lowered his head, seemingly in defeat, and Lelouch felt the corner of his lips curve in the beginning of a triumphant smirk. But before he could truly enjoy his victory, Clovis looked up again – and Lelouch stared. "So I'm not even worth one twenty-fourth part of your day?" To his horror, there were tears in his brother's eyes. "I knew it - you never loved me! You just wanted my body!"

Lelouch kept staring.

Clovis wasn't done yet. "You only care about the sex, not about me! But it's not my fault that I can get women to orgasm with my voice alone, or that I am so beautiful that not even Darlton can look anywhere else when I redecorate his room! I want to be loved for _me_, not the fact that there is no one in this world with a face more handsome than mine or a personality of comparable charm. But you... you... you just want my dog!"

"...What?"

"I have seen the way you look at her! And at Darlton's shoes! You don't need to hide it – I already know. You cheated on me with Darlton's shoes!"

"..._What?_"

"Oh," Clovis said dramatically, "if only I had realized it sooner!" He paused. "I would have placed a camera inside his room. And maybe Schneizel's underwear... I like Schneizel's underwear." Somehow, Clovis managed to keep looking miserable while he digressed. "Say, do you think it means something that he always has those _delightful_-"

"All right! All right, just... shut up!"

His brother's expression instantly changed. "You'll stay?"

"One hour," Lelouch said, secretly relieved that Clovis had not finished that sentence... and stopped with the theatrics. "Not one second longer."

His brother beamed. "You care, after all!" he exclaimed, quite literally jumping him. "That's so sweet!"

Lelouch didn't even try to fight, letting Clovis push him onto the mattress and only giving a resigned sigh as his brother made himself comfortable on his chest.

It wasn't long until Clovis closed his eyes contently, and after a moment of hesitation, Lelouch did the same.

This way, at least he wouldn't have to listen to his brother's annoying voice.

x x x

"And that's how Arthur ended up with the Student Council," Nunnally finished.

"This school sounds really lively," Euphie noted with a smile.

"You say that as if it's a good thing."

"Isn't it?"

"I think brother is still sore because of the Gender Reversal Festival..."

Lelouch couldn't believe she had just said that. "Nunnally!"

His sister only giggled.

"Gender Reversal Festival?"

Nunnally nodded. "Before we came to visit you that time, there was a festival at Ashford Academy. All the boys had to dress up as girls, and all the girls went as boys. It seems Milly really likes these kinds of things... they had one last year, too. And since it was even more popular than her events usually are, they decided to do it again."

"It must have been fun."

"It was," Nunnally said, smiling. "Everyone thought brother was very pretty. And then the girls fought over him until he got angry."

Euphie giggled. "That sounds familiar."

"Doesn't it?" Nunnally asked with another smile. "There were three of them, though."

"No wonder he got annoyed."

"He even asked people not to mention it." Lelouch thought that was a very nice way of putting it. In truth, he had only _asked_ Nunnally not to mention it. Everyone else was simply driven by a healthy sense of self-preservation – even Milly was reluctant to remind people of that particular event, since they usually started nervously looking around whenever she did, scared that he might be listening.

"You weren't supposed to tell?" Euphie asked, worriedly glancing at Lelouch. "I'm sorry I asked..."

"No," Nunnally said, "it's all right. I was the one who brought it up. And brother only said not to mention it outside of this house, so it's okay."

Lelouch forced a smile, which Euphie returned. "I see." She turned to Nunnally again, her gaze seeming almost wistful. "Ashford Academy really seems to be a nice place. I'm glad you made so many good friends."

There was a short silence, in which they finished their meal. When they were done, Nunnally suddenly spoke up, "Brother?"

"What is it?"

"Do you think it would be possible to introduce Euphie to everyone?"

Next to Nunnally, on the other side of the table, Euphie seemed surprised, and Lelouch couldn't say she was the only one. Somehow, the thought had never crossed his mind – not only because of the difficulties and risks involved, but because... well, to be honest, he didn't really know why.

"I don't think..." But when he saw the look of disappointment flashing across Euphie's face, he trailed off and tried again, "Maybe we could invite Milly to dinner next time."

But certainly not the whole Student Council. He could just imagine what would happen if Kallen somehow got wind of their relation. Even if Euphie were to pass as merely an old friend, there was a large possibility that sooner or later, something would leak – and Lelouch didn't feel like cleaning up a mess of that magnitude. It was unlikely that Kallen would show up at Ashford again after what had happened on Kamine Island, but it would only take a photograph or an accurate description of Euphie by an unsuspecting member of the Student Council for her to figure out what was going on. Hell, just her _name_ was a dead give-away.

Nunnally smiled. "That would be nice. It's too bad Suzaku couldn't come..."

"It couldn't be helped," Lelouch said with a smile of his own, hiding the fact that he was no happier about his best friend's absence than his little sister and seriously tempted to just drag him away from that god damned military by force one of these days. "He has work to do."

Pushing back the chair, Lelouch got up. "Speaking of work," he said and turned to Euphie, "I'm sure Jeremiah would rather not spend the night outside in a car. Let me just clear the table, then I'll bring you to the door. And you should go to bed, Nunnally – it has gotten rather late. I will tell Sayoko."

"Let me-," Nunnally began, and Euphie also moved to help him.

"It's not necessary," Lelouch told them. After a moment, Euphie reluctantly sat down again. "Just wait here. I won't take long."

x x x

"I can walk these few meters by myself, you know."

Lelouch smiled. "Ah, but I would be a very bad gentleman if I let you, wouldn't I?"

Euphie giggled. "You're worse than Clovis."

"I will pretend you never said that."

"You haven't changed at all. I remember how you always used to call him names, and Clovis would lose his temper every time. Once he even threatened to throw you into the koi pond." Another giggle. "Sister said that the only reason he didn't was that he was scared of what your mother might do."

Briefly, Lelouch wondered how it was that it never felt painful uncomfortable when Euphie mentioned his mother like this. Whatever the reason was, it must be the same for Nunnally, because the only times he had seen her speak about their mother freely and with a smile on her face since their return to Britannia had been around Euphie.

"Now that I think about it," Euphie continued, "Clovis really has changed, hasn't he?"

"You think so? I find him as annoying as ever."

"But he never argues with you anymore. Ever since you came back from Japan, I haven't seen him getting mad at you once."

"That's because he drives me insane with his stupidity instead."

His sister smiled. "Still, I'm glad you get along."

Lelouch tactfully restricted his reply to a non-committal grunt. "That reminds me... could you not mention what Nunnally told you to him?"

Euphie looked at him in confusion. "The festival?" When Lelouch nodded, she seemed puzzled, "Sure... but why?"

_Because he would never let me live it down_, Lelouch thought, but what he said was, "It's not important. Just don't bring up Milly's events around him." Or Milly, for the matter. As far as he knew, Clovis had never met her, and he would like to keep it that way. He could only imagine what would happen if those two ever crossed paths. It was not a scenario he wanted to occur anywhere near him, that was for sure – in fact, he would change his name and leave the country if it ever did, and that would certainly be a setback to his plans.

Euphie blinked at him. "Uhm... all right."

"Thank you." A short silence, when Lelouch suddenly remembered something. "By the way, how did you recognize Suzaku so quickly back then?"

His sister needed a moment to catch on. "On Kamine Island? Well, it wasn't very hard... he was on some of the pictures Nunnally showed me when you visited." She smiled. "You told me so much about him that I really wanted to meet him."

"I see."

"Lelouch..." Euphie's tone of voice had changed, and Lelouch immediately regretted having brought up Kamine Island.

"Ah, we're here," he cut her off, gesturing towards the gates of Ashford Academy. Jeremiah was already waiting – since the car wasn't parked directly in front of the school, Lelouch had called him a few minutes earlier so that he could meet them there. "You can manage without me from here on, can't you? I wanted to check on Nunnally once more before going to bed."

"Lelouch-"

"Good night."

He turned around, ignoring his sister's eyes on his back and the expression of distress within them.

x x x

"Surely it can not be that hideous?"

Euphie turned around, surprise flickering across her features. Clearly, she had been thinking about anything _but_ the painting in front of her. "What?"

Clovis smiled. "The expression on your face – if it was a reaction to my artistic talent, I'd feel impelled to never pick up a pencil in my life again." Keeping his tone light despite his concern, he asked, "Is everything all right?"

Euphie's smile didn't quite reach her eyes. "I'm sorry," she said. "I was just thinking."

"About anything in particular?" Clovis inquired, glancing at the picture in front of them - it was an impressionist painting depicting two women taking a walk in the rain. He didn't think it had turned out too badly, but neither was it anything special compared to his less recent works.

Maybe he shouldn't spend so much time musing over ways to re-arrange Cleopatra's fur.

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Euphie hesitate. "It can't have been anything pleasant," he noted, brows raising slightly.

"It's just...," his sister began slowly. "I'm not very helpful, am I?"

That wasn't exactly what Clovis had expected. Not that he had any idea _what_ kind of reply it was that he had anticipated, but this one caused him to blink in astonishment before he looked at the girl beside him questioningly. "Helpful?" he repeated.

The smile his sister gave him didn't suit her. "I really want to help Lelouch," she said, the sadness underlying her voice not something he was used from her. It made his heart clench painfully. "But there's nothing I can do, is there? I don't know anything about Japan or terrorist... I just want him and Nunnally to be happy. And yet I only-"

Euphie broke off, blinking at the finger that was being pressed to her lips.

"First," Clovis said, "stop putting diminishing adverbs like 'only' behind personal pronouns. There are people who can do that without automatically contradicting themselves – you're not one of them." Euphie blinked once more, and he slowly retracted his hand. "Now, let me guess: Lelouch is avoiding all serious topics of conversation with you?"

His sister seemed surprised. "How did you..."

"You are forgetting who you are talking to - I would be a poor older brother if I wasn't even able to figure out _that much_." He smiled softly. "It certainly needs something for you to become this disheartened, and since it is the middle of the night of a fairly uneventful day, there aren't all that many possibilities. Taking into account that Nunnally is far too sweet to be a valid cause for depression and Jeremiah would never say anything to upset you like this, it is clear who the culprit must be. The rest was nothing more than a well-educated guess. It's no secret that our beloved brother has the tact of a... well, a socially retarded teenage boy. Not that those aren't tautologous."

Euphie's lips curved upwards slightly.

"But exactly _because_ he is a socially retarded teenage boy, you shouldn't take his behavior to heart," Clovis continued lightly. "You're his cute little sister, so of course, he has to protect you from the fact that there is a world out there - never mind that you might already have noticed. This is what happens when genius and hormones mix. I'm sure it seems all very logical to him. However," he went on, seeking his sister's eyes, "that doesn't mean you are not helpful to him. I'm sure just seeing you and Nunnally smile makes him happy. He's just incredibly bad at showing it sometimes, what with him going off to take over the world and all."

A tentative smile appeared on Euphie's lips. "Maybe you're right."

"Of course I'm right – I always am." There was still a certain sadness about his sister, but it was clear by now that she would manage. In truth, giving up was no more in her nature than it was in Lelouch's.

Still, Clovis really wanted to cheer her up. "That reminds me, I wanted to go over some projects concerning Area 11 before tomorrow. You wouldn't happen to be interested? I could need an additional perspective, but unfortunately, people around here appear to be blessed with the artistic creativity of a dry piece of toast."

An amused twitch of his sister's lips quickly bloomed into a full smile. This time, there was no doubt it was a sincere one. "I would like that."

Smiling back, Clovis offered her his arm.

"Is Cleopatra with Jeremiah again?" Euphie asked as she took it.

"Either that, or Darlton kidnapped her. It would be a kind of self-defeating act of revenge, though, so she should be all right."

Euphie giggled. "We really shouldn't be making fun of it like this."

"Oh? So you think we should compensate the damage instead? Hm... you don't happen to know a good shoemaker, do you?"

His sister elbowed him lightly, clearly amused. "You're horrible. "

"You're right, he really seemed attached to those shoes. Now that I think about it, maybe we _should_ check on Cleopatra..."

Clovis smiled as Euphie started giggling again, glad that, at least for now, things were back to how they should be.

x x x

"You wanted to talk to me, your Highness?"

Clovis looked at the boy in front of him and wondered if he would ever drop the formalities. Not any time soon, he decided as he took in Kururugi's posture, the way he held his shoulders and the solemn quality of his gaze. _You could think I am about to send him onto the battlefield_.

It was quite the ridiculous notion. Clovis was known to be tremendously bored by military matters of any kind, safe perhaps if there was an immediate threat. There was absolutely no reason for him to start anything when things in Area 11 were going smoothly for once.

Of course, "smoothly" was relative when it came to this particular territory, and emergencies could always occur, but if that had been the case, he would hardly have the time for a private conversation with a regular soldiers - even a rather _untypical_ kind of regular soldier. If a situation had arisen that required the assistance of the Lancelot, the logical thing to do would have been to inform Earl Asplund or his female assistant of the details and leave the rest to them.

Now, Clovis would admit that spontaneously summoning the boy to the government building like this had been a rather unusual thing to do, but that didn't justify treating an almost-invitation as business. As far as he was concerned, there was no reason anything less apocalyptic than a sudden terrorist attack couldn't be discussed over tea and biscuits – so did Kururugi have to be so _serious_ about it? Considering that the atmosphere around the government building was so tranquil that even the soldiers guarding the premises seemed almost relaxed, assuming that this was about an overly grave matter was being immensely pessimistic.

Oh well - he supposed he couldn't blame the boy. Seeing how Lelouch was still vexed by the incident on Kamine Island, he probably wasn't getting any.

"Yes. Please," he gestured towards the chair on the other side of the desk, "sit. I'm sure it's the more comfortable way of holding a conversation."

"Thank you." Kururugi obediently took the offered seat, and Clovis smiled at him.

"I hope I didn't cause you any inconveniences?"

"Of course not, your Highness," the boy said earnestly. "It's my job."

"True. But I still might have interfered with Earl Asplund's plans for today – I got a feeling he was intent on doing some more testing with the Lancelot." He _always_ was.

The soft, almost fond smile that appeared on Kururugi's lips suggested that he was aware of that. "I'm sure he doesn't mind."

At that, Clovis raised an elegant eyebrow. An answer such as this could mean one of two things: either the possibly most obsessive scientist in the whole Britannian Empire was working on an especially exciting upgrade for his favorite toy and thus too busy to care much about anything else... or the boy in front of him had gone from exceedingly pessimistic to optimistic to the point of being delusional in a matter of seconds. Having witnessed Lelouch's friend eagerly attempt to throw himself in front of Schneizel's Hadron Cannon, Clovis wasn't so sure which was more likely. He was coming to believe that Kururugi wasn't the most psychologically stable person around.

"I hope so," he eventually said, in a voice that betrayed nothing. "And you are doing well?"

"I am, your Highness, thank you."

"That's good to hear," Clovis said and tilted his head. "But you know, generally, it is considered polite to also inquire after the well-being of the person who asked you." He smiled expectantly at the boy, successfully throwing him off-guard.

"...What... what about you, your Highness?"

Clovis' smile widened. "I'm excellent, thank you." He paused. "Well, there _is_ the matter of Darlton's shoes..."

"Shoes?"

"Yes. They got into an accident. It's a sad story, so if you meet Darlton, don't mention it - he's not quite over it yet. They were very nice shoes, you know?"

"I... see..."

"But enough of the tragedy that is the lack of talented shoemakers. I'm sure you're curious as to why I called you here." Immediately, the boy's shoulders straightened, but Clovis didn't give him the time to get back to the formalities, "The answer is simple... shopping!"

"...Shopping?"

Clovis reminded himself that he really shouldn't mess with the poor boy's head like that. But... he couldn't help it.

It was just so much _fun_.

"Exactly!" he confirmed, smiling at Kururugi's confused look. This was the difference between annoying his favorite little brother and threatening the sanity of an entirely unsuspecting individual. Lelouch didn't _expect_ him to make sense. Other people tended to try and figure out the deeper meaning behind his words, usually resulting in the temporary shutdown of their brains.

He decided to take pity on the boy. "You see, Euphie has been a bit bored lately," he explained, thinking that 'bored' really wasn't the right word, but also knowing that her worries weren't his to share. "She never says anything, but Lelouch and Nunnally can't be around as often as they'd like to, and I'm also rather busy." More like an insufficient replacement, but that was such an unflattering way of putting it. "She would really like to get to know Area 11 better, but going sight-seeing with hordes of overprotective men and women watching your every step is not as much fun as it sounds. It seems to be an unwritten rule somewhere that bodyguards can not, under any circumstances, possess basic knowledge of social interaction. Now, Lord Gottwald isn't so bad, but the last time made it clear that he, too, is far from being the ideal escort." As so many other things, Clovis blamed that on the incident on Kamine Island.

He watched Kururugi's eyes widen and tilted his head. "You can see where this is going, can't you?"

"You want me to guard Princess Euphemia?"

"I want you to take her shopping, but yes, in the end, that's what it comes down to."

"Why me?"

"Why not?" Clovis countered. "You are dutiful, capable and actually not such a bad conversationalist when you're not being all stiff and formal. You're also around her age, have met her already and won't attract nearly as much unwanted attention as the guard squadron I would have to pick otherwise, especially if you take one or two slight precautions. It's perfect."

By now, Kururugi was staring at him in open disbelief. "You would trust me after..."

"We _did_ talk about how questioning the validity of my decisions is bad manners, didn't we? I hope this is not becoming a habit, because I have to admit that would be somewhat irritating."

"I-"

"Don't bother," Clovis cut the boy off before he could apologize and assure him that he hadn't meant any disrespect. "It's fine as long as you try to keep it in mind. Now, what do you say?"

"Your Highness?"

"I'm not _ordering_ you to accompany my sister. That would kind of defeat the purpose. You are free to decline – however, this is a sincere request. If you deny it, please do so for reasons less insulting than misplaced doubts about the correctness of my judgment. Now?"

"I..." If Lelouch had the stamina of a dying goldfish, then his friend certainly had the facial expressions of one down with similar accuracy.

Yes, Kururugi was positively gaping.

However, when he finally caught himself again, he did so with remarkable integrity. The boy's head lowered in a respectful bow, untamed hair obscuring bright green eyes that had turned solemn once more. "I would be honored, your Highness."

Clovis smiled.

x x x

"That was your doing, wasn't it?"

"I'm afraid you will have to be a bit more precise than that, little brother. I don't make it a habit to admit to things without knowing what they are. However, if it's something that makes you want to do kinky rather than painful things to the person responsible, feel free to blame me." He paused, humming thoughtfully. "Actually, we can talk about the 'painful' part, too."

"Euphie brought Suzaku along with her yesterday," Lelouch said, without acknowledging his comment.

"Oh?" So she _had_ managed to convince him. Clovis had been wondering about that.

"Why did you do that?"

"Does it bother you?"

"No," Lelouch admitted reluctantly. "It's... not so bad, actually."

"Why, did you just say what I think you said? Because that sounded dangerously close to 'good job!' to me. Now all that's missing is a 'thank you' and I will have to think about the appropriate way to greet the apocalypse."

"Thank you?" Lelouch scoffed. "Now why should I do that?"

"Oh, I don't know... because I was cleaning up _your_ mess? Then again, I really was just making sure my sweet baby sister is happy, so I suppose it's not necessary that you express your never-ending gratitude. You could come over here and go with my suggestion from earlier, though."

"You really never think about anything else, do you?"

"Why should I? Two people trying to kill their brains by contemplating the physiology of every little blade of grass they encounter in the family are enough. Now come here and kiss me, before I decide to succumb to this extremely comfortable mattress. If I fall asleep here, I promise you won't get rid of me any time soon."

"Who even said you could make yourself at home in _my_ bed?"

"As they say, it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission. Then again, with you it's pretty much a lose-lose situation... oh well. Are you coming, or should I start counting sheep? I could give them cute little names... there goes Bonny. And Gracie. And Little Louch didn't make it over the fence. Oh my, I think she broke her leg..." A rather heavy looking book missed his head by only a few inches.

"If you want to fantasize about sheep, go ahead - but be so kind as to keep the details to yourself."

"You're just jealous she even _got_ to the fence. But don't worry, I'm sure if you gave it your all, you'd manage at least half of her achievement before dropping dead! Or you could approach the fence really, really slowly and then beat her by _climbing over it_ like the physically challenged genius you are. No, wait, you might still break your leg... better burn it down. Those things are never made of anything but wood, anyway – it should work."

"If you keep contemplating this ridiculous scenario, I will be able to just use your dead body as a ladder."

"Playing around with corpses, little brother? My, my, aren't we being kinky today."

"That's what you wanted, wasn't it?"

"Ah, indeed. Now take out the death threat, add some gags and handcuffs, and we can get to the fun."

"You know, maybe that's actually not such a bad idea..."

Clovis glanced at his brother knowingly. "No," he said dryly, "I was not talking about the 'let's tie your older brother to the bed post and forget about him' variant."

Lelouch smirked. "You have to be open to new ideas."

x x x

"Ah, so _delicious_..."

"If you get my bed dirty-"

"Don't get your knickers in a twist." Clovis smiled in a way that made his words sound a lot less like a metaphor. "You know I'm good at... _swallowing_."

"I also know that the last time you did this, you completely ruined the sheets."

"It's not my fault Cleopatra got to the bowl."

"Then whose is it?"

"Yours, for having picked _white_ bedclothes, of all things. Really, that's _tempting_ Murphy's Law."

"How was I supposed to know that mutt of yours would slip out of its collar?"

Clovis shrugged languidly, toying with one of the strawberries. "Leashing her to the wardrobe in the first place wasn't very nice. You deserved it."

"Must I remind you that it was _your_ idea?" Lelouch asked.

"Only because you would have locked her out otherwise." His brother finally put the fruit into his mouth, just to pick up another one to roll between his fingers. "Are you sure you don't want one?"

"Unlike other people, I have work to do."

"Yes, yes, work. What is it this time? Another military report? You could at least take a break once in a blue moon."

"I could," Lelouch agreed.

"When was the last time you ate?"

"This morning. Now if you'd excuse me..." He attempted to return his attention to the document before him – it was indeed a military report.

However, Clovis insisted on making a nuisance out of himself. "This morning? It's almost evening already! Now come here and have some."

"I don't think so."

"If you don't, I will tell Nunnally that you are not eating properly."

"Don't you dare!"

Clovis held out the bowl, smiling. "Now?"

Lelouch glared at his brother, but put the folder aside and got up. There was no way he would let that idiot make his sister worry unnecessarily.

He went over to the bed and attempted to grab the dish, but Clovis pulled it out of his reach before his fingers could make contact with the porcelain. Lelouch was sure his expression spoke volumes, but his brother merely smiled. Without haste, he picked up one of the strawberries and held it out to him. Even without the strange angle, the amused challenge in Clovis' eyes clearly conveyed the message.

Lelouch stared back, very much tempted to ask whether his brother was serious despite knowing the answer already.

In the end, though, there was only one acceptable option. He slowly leaned forwards and, without breaking eye contact, took the strawberry from Clovis' hands with his teeth. He deliberately avoided touching anything else.

"We will practice this some time," his brother said, rolling his eyes as he handed him the bowl. "That had the sensuality of a dead rodent."

"Good." Lelouch sat down at the foot of the bed. "I hear you should not encourage dogs when they are forgetting their place."

"You should also feed them, pet them and take them to the vet. I will let you do the former two, but only if you stop being an impudent little brat."

Lelouch raised his brows. "Really?"

"No, I'd let you do them anyway, but I can at least _pretend_ there are requirements."

"Now who is being predictable?"

Clovis shrugged. "I have an excuse. You're just too tempting to resist."

When his brother wrapped an arm around him and went to misuse his lap again, Lelouch didn't stop him. He did, however, firmly push his hand away when Clovis attempted to get a hold of the bowl with the strawberries.

For once, his brother had been right.

They truly _were_ delicious.

x x x

"It's so _large_!"

"I'm aware of that."

"And so _hard_."

"What did you expect?"

"Oh, and the shape...!"

Lelouch rubbed his temples and turned around. "Clovis. Could you put down the carrot now?"

"But I want to keep it!"

"Well, that's too bad." He snatched the vegetable from his brother's hands.

"You're no fun."

"Are you _pouting_ at me?"

"No, I'm having mental sex with the carrot you're holding. But if you feel neglected, there's always the kitchen table!"

Lelouch didn't deign that with a reply.

"You know, I can always throw you out," he noted as he went back to peeling the potatoes. "It's not like you're a great help."

"Ah, but Euphie wanted it this way," Clovis reminded him, and Lelouch could practically _feel_ the sly smile directed at his back. "And I'm sure she's not the only one. We wouldn't want to disappoint our darling little sisters, would we?"

Lelouch threw his brother a cool look, but really, there wasn't much he could say to that. It was true - they were stuck, defeated by what might be their one common weakness.

Not that Clovis would mind, of course. Lelouch would have liked to believe that his brother was simply accustomed to losing, but while he had few doubts that this was indeed indeed the case, he knew it wasn't the core of the matter. For all that Clovis had no interest in cooking, it was to be expected that he would jump at the chance to annoy him for several hours in a row without Lelouch being able to do anything about it.

When Euphie had first come to him with her suggestion, Lelouch had tried to convince her that there really was no need to unnecessarily complicate things. They could just have dinner together at Ashford – invite Suzaku over and maybe Milly, if Euphie really wanted to get to know more of his and Nunnally's friends, and spend a comfortable evening together. Well... as comfortable as an evening could be in the company of someone who was just waiting for the next opportunity to make life difficult for him. At least with Suzaku around, there was a chance he wouldn't be the only one to suffer, and maybe Milly would even hold back in the presence of someone she barely knew. It was doubtful, but possible.

Euphie had quickly thwarted his hopes, though.

Apparently, she feared that he wouldn't let her and Nunnally help with the preparations if they weren't both around from the beginning to stop him from doing everything by himself, which, Lelouch had to admit, was most likely true – but there was no need for them to trouble themselves. If he minded, he would have asked Sayoko to take care of the additional chores. However, before he had been able to point that out to Euphie, she had reminded him that her visits would eventually draw attention, and since he had made it clear from the beginning that he would rather not explain about her presence to the rest of Ashford, there hadn't been much room for argument anymore after that – Milly's cheerful reassurance that they would just assume he had 'finally found himself a girlfriend' certainly hadn't helped.

So there he was, preparing the first course of the dinner with the assistance of an incredibly unhelpful relative while their sisters would take care of the dessert later on. At least it was only the four of them. Lelouch wouldn't have minded Suzaku, of course, but if there were two people he never wanted see in the same room at the same time, it would be Clovis and Milly - especially if he had to stay around to watch his sanity fly out of the window. He probably should also be glad that Nunnally and Euphie hadn't managed to talk Schneizel into dropping his work and participating. That would just have been awkward.

Not that it could get much worse than Clovis displaying an unsavory fondness for vegetables.

"Oh my, is that a _zucchini_?"

Lelouch wanted to hit his head on the kitchen table.

x x x

"Clovis..."

Clovis smiled. "Yes?"

"This is _not_ what I had in mind when I said 'make yourself useful'."

"Oh? Do you want me to...-" he lightly bit down on the soft flesh between his lips- "stop?"

Lelouch groaned softly. "God, you're..."

"Good?" He let his tongue trail down that appealingly pale neck. "Mmh, yes, I've been told that. But since it's you, I'll be sure to take the compliment to heart."

"I was going to say 'obnoxious'."

"Is that so?" But Lelouch didn't protest when he pulled him away from the half-finished salad and wrapped his arms around him.

Placing a finger beneath his little brother's chin, Clovis leaned over the boy's left shoulder, and Lelouch showed that he didn't really mind by complaisantly turning his head and initiating the kiss.

"We don't have time for this," Lelouch informed him when Clovis drew back to put his mouth to use elsewhere.

"Really? I was under the impression we had much more time than we could possibly need since you insisted to start so early."

"Only because I knew something like this would happen."

"You built your schedule around having sex with me on the kitchen table? Aw, that's so sweet of you!"

Lelouch snorted. "More like I built my schedule around this kind of conversation."

"You mean the kind that involves my hand under your shirt?" He pinched Lelouch's nipple, and his brother moaned slightly before turning around and making his point perfectly clear.

Clovis didn't complain, deciding that the kind involving his little brother's tongue inside his mouth was just as well.

.

.

**End of Chapter**

* * *

**Author's Note:** Managed not to call the chapter "Doggy Style". I'm proud of my sense of decenc-... all right, maybe not. xD

So... Clovis likes pink little hats, Schneizel laments the loss of his possibly feminine underwear and Lelouch refuses to share his strawberries. And all the objects in that sentence fit after "Clovis likes" even though it was not my intention. That has to mean something.

As always, reviews make me happy! I would try to bribe you with strawberries, but Lelouch strongly objects.

...I have cookies, though!


	9. Squids and Stables

Real life continues to be evil, and let me tell you that rapidly approaching final exams are not at all amusing. However, even if the writing process might get slowed down considerably, it certainly won't come to a halt.

Thanks again to everyone who left a comment, and let me note that those who simply faved the story also made me very happy (not to mention the ones who did both)!

**Chapter Title:** Squids and Stables

**Rating:** M

**Additional Warnings:** A plot fighting not to be strangled by the Tentacles of Randomness. A cake that might be a lie.  
In the end, only the pizza shall remain!

* * *

**Pleasures of Art  
- Chapter 9**

.

.

"Expand Code R?" Clovis couldn't deny he was somewhat taken aback by that suggestion.

"Why so astonished? It's what you'd already been trying to do, isn't it?"

"Well, yes," Clovis admitted, not at all surprised that Lelouch knew, "but I didn't get the impression you were too keen on having that research continued – not to mention expanded. Why the sudden interest?"

"It could be useful," Lelouch said in a voice that made the accompanying shrug seem entirely superfluous. Under different circumstances, Clovis could have easily accepted that as an explanation, but this development wasn't coming _completely_ out of the blue, and he knew there was something his brother wasn't telling him.

"I didn't go to the trouble of ensuring there will be no more leaks just to let the whole thing run off into sand before it could bring any actual merit," Lelouch continued. "If you insist on keeping that project around, at least give me _results_."

Of course. Trust his brother to make this about him instead. "You've never heard of the word 'avocation', have you?"

"If you want something to pass the time with, keep yourself occupied with watercolors or that mutt you refuse to part with, or go and amuse yourself with one of those air-headed noble women you are so fond of. But don't turn something with the potential to hamper my plans into your private entertainment. It's bad enough that incident in Shinjuku came to the attention of the Emperor – next time something like that happens, things might not turn out so fortunate."

Clovis could have pointed out that it had been due to _his_ efforts that their father had tired of the subject so quickly back then, or mentioned that it was more than unlikely that anything comparable would happen any time soon with the precautions they had put in place the moment they had returned from Britannia.

But Lelouch was aware of these things, even if he predictably chose to ignore them, and so Clovis placed his objection elsewhere, "Air-headed? I beg to differ. Even though not _all_ beautiful women possess the wits to complement their looks, the ones who do are certainly the ones who tend to capture my attention first." He smiled slyly. "Why, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you are jealous!"

"So jealous I'd scarcely know what to do should you ever decide to elope with one of them, to a country far, far away, never to be seen again."

"Fear not, little brother – I assure you that there is only one person I would ever consider eloping with, and that if such a thing were to happen, you'd be the first to know."

"The relief is so overwhelming that it turns my stomach. Now that we've established that, am I right in assuming that you are too attached to the project in question to just let it go, and therefore will strive to make yourself less than useless for a change?"

"You are presupposing that I feel inclined to pick. Why do you always take it for granted that I will just wag my tail obediently and play along when you have found a new way to express your megalomania?"

Lelouch lifted a brow. "Are you saying you won't?"

"Well, no, but I _could_." Lelouch's brow remained where it was. "If I felt like it. Theoretically. All right, I can see your point, but you could still be more polite about it! And if you don't stop smirking, I will steal your underwear and distribute it amongst those air-headed noble women you were speaking of."

"What is it with you and people's underwear?" But the almost-but-not-quite subtle curving of the younger prince's lips had disappeared, replaced by the expression of someone who was positively horrified by a particularly vivid mental picture and trying so hard not to let it show that his efforts had the exact opposite effect.

"What is it with you and those dramatic gestures during speeches?" Clovis retorted. "We all have our issues – it's just that mine are more fun than yours. And because life has so clearly favored me, I have decided to be charitable and show myself agreeable to your proposition." To be honest, he really didn't have any reason not to. There had been quite a few things coming up lately that he would like to investigate, but the research team at his disposal simply wasn't big enough to deal with them all at once, and involving scientists that were not _compelled_ to keep quiet was out of question after what had happened the last time. He could rather use his brother's assistance, and they both knew it.

"Too kind."

Clovis purported not to notice the dripping sarcasm. "You know, that's what Cornelia would say. Well, it would probably be 'too soft' in this context, but it's what she'd tell people behind my back." He paused, eying Lelouch with deliberate wariness before drawing back abruptly. "You're not an alien pretending to be Cornelia pretending to be Lelouch pretending to be Darlton trying to avenge his shoes, are you?"

"...Was I that obvious?"

Clovis gaped at his brother. "Did you just make a _joke_?"

"No, I'm looking for a way to dispose of that mutt without you whining about it to me afterwards. It seems I wasn't convincing enough, though. What gave me away – the lack of tentacles?"

"Tentacles...," Clovis repeated. Humming, he gazed up at the ceiling. "You know, if you ever manage to perfect your impression of an alien..."

"God, you're disgusting."

"Says the boy who thinks an alien impersonating his older sister would need to have tentacles. I don't know what you've been dreaming about recently, little brother, but I'm afraid I must tell you that Cornelia does, in fact, not have anything in common with a squid. A _Leviathan_, maybe, but not a squid. Alas, nature is cruel."

"One more word and I'll be sure to inform her of the mental trauma her precious subordinate suffered at your hands." Clovis wondered if he meant the incidents of near-molestation or the shoes or both, and whether his brother had left that open to interpretation on purpose.

"Are you quite certain that's a good idea? I might not mind the lances, per se, but if she comes after me with the intent to kill, who knows what I might let slip in my state of mortal fear? I might even mix up the details - imagine I mentioned you, tentacular dreams and Euphie in the same sentence!"

Lelouch's face twisted in an interesting way as it turned an even more interesting shade of green. "You're..."

"Literally stunning? How _darling_ of you! Does that mean we can make out now?"

"If I ever was in the mood, you effectively butchered it." Beneath the steel in his voice, Lelouch actually sounded a bit ill.

With a theatrical sigh, Clovis shook his head. "If I had known you'd take it this badly, I wouldn't have told you. Having a tentacle fetish in this world is hard – believe me, I understand what you're going through all too well."

"There are things," Lelouch ground out, "I didn't want to know. Ever. This is one of them."

"If only you weren't such a prude. Ah, well, that's all right – you're still young and adorable. Plenty of time to realize the error of your ways. But if you ever meet an alien that offers to show its tentacles to you, don't forget to take precautions – we wouldn't want cute little alien Lelouchs running about trying to take over the world, would we? Even if it looks male, better make sure. We've all heard about people getting abducted from Earth and coming back pregnant, and not all of them were women."

"You _do_ realize that's biologically impossible, don't you?"

"You won't know that until you've tried."

"Even provided that the process of impregnation was not an issue in such a case, the actual-" Lelouch broke off. "Am I really about to discuss the concept of male pregnancy under the hypothesis that there are aliens abducting people for reproduction purposes with you?"

"Well, no one said anything about the _purpose_ of the act being reproduction, but that aside... yes, I believe you are."

"...I'm going to bed."

Clovis nodded knowingly. "With such an _exciting_ conversation, I'm sure you need some time to _calm down_."

Lelouch stared at him. "Are you implying what I think you are implying?" Clovis opened his mouth to respond, but his brother cut him off, "No, wait, don't answer that. Good night."

Lelouch was half standing already, but paused when Clovis grabbed his hand.

"Why don't you sleep here?"

His brother's questioning look quickly turned wry. "Because I believe we have very different definitions of _sleep_, mine being the more common one and yours being one that will doubtlessly prove counterproductive to it."

"What, no improvised tentacle play on your schedule?" Lelouch's face upon hearing the words 'tentacle play' said it all and more, and Clovis grinned. "Oh well, I suppose I'll just have to live with yet another disappointment." He tugged at his brother's sleeve. "Come on. I promise I'll be good."

"Like you promised to keep your dog the hell away from me?"

"You were threatening to skin her alive and turn her pelt into a scarf for the Chinese Empress," Clovis said as he gently pulled his brother back into the bed. Lelouch let him, which probably meant he was going to indulge him. "It was a different kind of promise."

"I still think it would make for a nice diplomatic gift."

"That's because you're a socially retarded, dog abusing brute. For one, it'd just be _heartless_, and I really have to worry about your psyche if you can't see that. More importantly, the Chinese Empress is a little girl, and little girls like cute little things. No doubt she'd prefer a living dog over a piece of _pelt_."

"Well, that could be arranged, too."

"Only if you want your underwear to go next."

"Could you leave the contents of my wardrobe alone already? It's disturbing."

"So it's in your wardrobe?"

"Of course it's in my- … if you touch it, I swear I will kill you."

"But Lelouch, you know how much I like fondling your undergarments!"

Lelouch swatted his hand away. "That wasn't even subtle."

"Yes, I suppose it wasn't," Clovis acquiesced and placed his head in his brother's lap. When Lelouch made no move to inflict bodily harm upon him, he rolled onto his back. "You do realize that there is no guarantee that Code R will amount to anything, don't you?"

The sudden change of topic seemed to catch Lelouch off-guard. "That's why I said it _could_ be useful," he said, "rather than that it _will_ be." Clearly, he was wondering what Clovis' point was.

"It's not a trivial matter to you, though, is it? You knew that it could be advantageous to sustain the research from the start, but you never concerned yourself overly with it." He reached up to softly touch Lelouch's cheek, as if he could actually coax an answer out of him if his brother didn't want to give him one. "Why now?"

Lelouch didn't reply, just looked at him with those unreadable violet eyes of his, and Clovis sighed. If there was one thing about his brother that he could truly do without, it would be this. That god damned secrecy.

There were, of course, other things about Lelouch that annoyed him – ranging from the overconfident recklessness to those smug little smiles that had been around from the moment they had played their first match against each other, perhaps longer. But these were the things that had always been a part of Lelouch, that could be irritating and nerve-wrecking, but in the end, were simply _right_ that way.

His brother's constant secrecy was also irritating and nerve-wrecking, but it hadn't always been this bad. There had been a time when he had at least been open with Nunnally and Euphie, when the primary reason he would never have gone to any of his older siblings with his troubles had been pride and a lack of urgency rather than a distrust so deeply rooted that Clovis wondered if the day would ever come when Lelouch could turn his back to him without expecting him to drive a knife into it, however unconsciously.

"Code R certainly is making progress," Clovis said, "but it's far from a rapid one. There has been no breakthrough in sight for quite some time."

"Because you lost your research subject," his brother said, tone inflectionless

"Yes," Clovis acknowledged, simply.

That was another thing Lelouch didn't like about Code R. Not only had its practical use been highly limited so far, it had also been founded on human experimentation – although Clovis would have argued that it was really a matter of how one understood the term 'human'. He was, however, not going to deny that those experiments had been morally questionable at best. The girl (and Clovis had never thought of her as a girl, or a woman, or any kind of person, really) had been asleep most of the time, and it wasn't like she had been tortured or even treated especially roughly, but the amount of drugs that had been needed to keep her put had been quite worrying, and to say that all of the procedures had been completely painless would probably be unduly optimistic.

Even if his fault mainly lay in his failure to interfere, Clovis wasn't particularly proud of his involvement in that part of the research. To claim that he could suddenly empathize with the strange woman with the blank face and the eerie yellow eyes would have been an overstatement, but Lelouch seemed to be fond of her, and that at least made her an individual in Clovis' mind, if not necessarily a human being. It was enough to make him feel guilty.

Treating people as objects, as mere tools without value, wasn't something he was used to doing. In fact, he found the mere thought revolting, and he knew that this was how Lelouch viewed Code R.

He supposed some would have accused his brother of hypocrisy. Didn't he himself use people to further his own ends? But it wasn't that easy. Lelouch treated people as chess pieces.

There was a difference.

It was also possible that his brother felt indebted to the girl. She had, after all, given him an invaluable weapon in his quest to overthrow their homeland, and Lelouch's pride would never allow him to just accept it as something he was simply entitled to. He wasn't the most appreciative person, but he wasn't really ungrateful, either. Maybe that was why he kept her around without ever pressing her for information – or if he did, he certainly never divulged any of it to anyone. She had to know _something_, didn't she?

However, it wasn't like Clovis wasn't mostly with Lelouch on this, despite his curiosity. His difficulty to look his brother in the eye after he had learned what exactly had transpired in Shinjuku had nearly as much to do with the girl as the danger he had so carelessly put his brother in, and he had no intention of getting carried away like that ever again.

She was still creepy, though.

"Is she truly immune to death?" Clovis asked, because it suddenly hit him that he had never bothered getting confirmation for this. He had know from the beginning that she was a lot older than her appearance suggested and healed much faster than a normal human being would, and his brother had strongly hinted at such a thing being the case, but immortality was a concept hard to wrap one's mind around when it was literally staring you in the face.

"It would seem that way."

"It's hard to believe," Clovis said. "A dream that has been around maybe as long as mankind itself come true. Has she always been that way?"

"How should I know?"

"You never asked her?" It was the less likely possibility – she could just have refused to answer, or Lelouch could simply not be feeling like sharing his knowledge on the matter. But when his brother glanced away, it was an admittance that that wasn't how it was, and Clovis smiled. "I'm not sure if I find it worrying or cute that you make an effort to respect her privacy under these circumstances."

Lelouch snorted softly, but didn't argue, and Clovis let his hand slide under his brother's clothes, idly caressing his chest. "Will you tell me what this is all about?"

Lelouch's eyes once more met his, the expression within them no less indecipherable than before. But just when Clovis thought he wouldn't get an answer this time, either, his brother's lips parted, "I want to know if there are other Geass users I should be aware of. That's all."

"I see," Clovis said – genuinely pleased to have gotten this much, but at the same time wondering what Lelouch was omitting.

Although it was true that his brother's concern for Code R didn't come entirely out of nowhere, its cause was quite the mystery. Not too long ago, Lelouch's disdain for the project had been unmistakable: a contemptuous snort here, a word of annoyance there... but mostly, Lelouch had pretended the research didn't exist. Oh yes, he had kept an eye on it, and he certainly had never _forgotten_ about it, but it had been clear as day that he had no interest in Code R beyond ensuring that the data acquired through it remained where it could not interfere with his plans.

Clovis could hardly fault him – the poison gas incident _had_ been a mess, of such an extent that he, too, had been reluctant to once more pick up the research that had caused it. But the _Power of Kings_ fascinated him, like a collection of sublime paintings that had mysteriously turned up on his doorstep one morning, and if the only way to trace their origin was to keep investigating until he stumbled upon the right clues, then that was what he would do. He acknowledged that in the greater scheme of things, the research he was conducting held much more meaning than this, might even turn out to be essential at some point in the future, but that wasn't why he had kept digging where his brother had decided to figure out what he needed to know for himself. Unlike Lelouch, he wasn't so much interested in the practical use of his brother's powers than their background and historical importance, and he was determined to find out all he could about that.

Lelouch was different, though. His brother would never decline knowledge, but that was mostly because it might come in handy one day, and only partly because he couldn't help being a smart-ass. Pursuing Code R held no appeal for him if it was all just empty theory, and even though there was a chance that something more would eventually come out of it, Lelouch simply didn't have the time to spare. The possibility that the project would turn out to be a valuable asset was the reason he had never told Clovis to shut it down completely, but that was as far as his providence would go. Code R simply wasn't so promising that he would involve himself any deeper in it than necessary.

That was why it had been such a surprise when Lelouch had come to him one day not too long ago and demanded to see all the research files, even the ones that only contained trivial information. It had been then that his brother had begun to keep much closer tabs on the project, and it must have been around the same time that he had first considered increasing its efficiency.

Clovis had been trying to determine what had caused this change of heart in his brother from the moment he had been made aware of it, but to no avail. He had, of course, come up with some half-formed ideas in the course of his musings, but as long as Lelouch refused to disclose his reasons to him, they would remain just that – vague theories with no chance of going anywhere concrete. All he knew for certain was that whatever he was looking for must have occurred around the time he had finished the preparations for Art Week, maybe a bit earlier, and that wasn't exactly a world-shaking observation.

If his brother was really primarily interested in information about other possessors of Geass, that might mean he had encountered one, but they already knew about the Emperor, and even that hadn't prompted Lelouch to show excessive fondness for the project. Then again, he might not have tolerated Code R at all otherwise, seeing it as a threat rather than a potential tool, and at least they knew where they needed to treat with caution in this case. The thought of a bunch of people with supernatural powers running around without them even being aware of them was a rather unsettling one, Clovis had to admit. Who knew how many beings like that girl existed?

But Clovis couldn't remember any unusual occurrences around the estimated point in time that indicated a meeting like that. Even if Lelouch probably wouldn't have informed him if he didn't think it was essential for his purposes, Clovis should have noticed something. There had been nothing, though, except... except a rather unusual phone call. A girl in possession of 'incriminating information' about his little brother Lelouch had been afraid she might disclose to official instances – but she didn't need to have supernatural powers to notice something amiss, not if she'd been as close to him as it had sounded. A classmate? A friend? _Something else?_

Clovis shook his head slightly. It was pointless to lapse into wild speculations.

Besides...

"Is it just me, or does the ceiling lighting look like a giant shriveled penis?"

In Lelouch's hands, even a pillow could become a deadly weapon.

x x x

"Am I imagining things, or has the president been acting strange lately?"

"You're not imagining anything," Lelouch assured his friend. "Even for Milly, this kind of behavior is not normal."

"Do you think we should be worried?"

"This is _Milly_ we are talking about," Lelouch said. "I suggest you prepare yourself to run."

"And you?"

"Who do you think you are talking to? I have an escape route prepared, of course."

"Of course."

Ignoring the undercurrent amusement in Suzaku's voice, Lelouch ventured a glance in the direction of the other two occupants of the room. "...Is she looking at us?"

"I think she is," Suzaku said. And blinked when his gaze fell upon the person that sat next to the blonde in question – a person whose facial expression very much equaled that of a child that had just watched Santa slaughter Rudolph with the chimney rod. Or maybe the other way around. "What's wrong with Shirley?"

"I don't know," Lelouch said. "And I'm not sure I want to find out."

Before he could decide if he should flee while he still could, however, the president of the Student Council turned back to whatever papers she had been showing to the other girl.

Lelouch let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding, but didn't dare move, afraid he might draw the she-devil's attention a second time. Next to him, Suzaku seemed similarly unsettled – neither spoke another word.

When a minute passed without anything happening, they forced themselves to return their attention to the remarkable stack of work they had been given by Milly before she had dragged Shirley off to the opposite corner of the room and started whispering to her.

Too tense to really concentrate, they just sat there and stared at the records of the Student Council's finances without actually seeing them. Or at least, Lelouch did – he would later realize that his best friend had indeed taken note of the numbers and minor calculations in front of him, probably because he wasn't the president's favorite victim and not quite as traumatized by her wicked ways yet.

It is said that ignorance is bliss, but all things considered, Lelouch was glad to already be accustomed to the president's eccentrics. Not that he ever got away scratch-free, but he liked to think that in many cases, the mental scarring could have been a lot worse.

When Shirley stormed out of the room, face red as a tomato and followed by a grinning Milly who winked at Lelouch and Suzaku as she passed them, neither of the two boys could resist taking a look at what must have caused this scene for long. It was not the first time something like that had happened these last few weeks, and although Shirley usually just reprimanded the Student Council president – sounding slightly choked and looking rather scandalized, but going back to normal rather quickly – it was most suspicious.

As it turned out, there _was_ a connection between ignorance and bliss, just not always there where you would expect it.

Suzaku was the first to see them.

He stumbled back, his eyes wide as a short, strangled sound emitted from his throat. Afterwards, his mouth failed to close again.

Lelouch didn't have the time to appreciate the feeling of foreboding that suddenly enveloped him, though.

The moment his eyes fell on the pictures, he froze. As if guided by an invisible force, his hand reached for what he had believed to be a dossier filled with Student Council related papers. Carefully, as if afraid it could latch itself onto him in the way Arthur always assaulted Suzaku, he closed the little book - and felt his brain decompose as he took in the cover.

Above a graphic depiction that made them redundant, words were imprinted in large pink letters: _Love Slave, Issue 2 1/2 -_

And then in green: _Giant Tentacles of Passion_.

Exactly two things went through Lelouch's head before his mental abilities deserted him once and for all:

The realization that if Clovis and Milly really hadn't met and this wasn't some thin-veiled conspiracy to crush his sanity and feed it to the fish, there was nothing he wouldn't do to keep those two apart; and the thought that next time the president mentioned that everything would be so much easier when the time came if someone had introduced Shirley to the beautiful world of boys' love already, he would not confuse the birth of a malicious plan of giant proportions with the weird, but all in all harmless and not at all atypical musings of a bored Milly Ashford.

x x x

"You know, I've been wondering for a while now..."

Lelouch glanced at Milly warily, not at all reassured by her light tone. "Yes?"

"Which one of you tops?"

The startled noise escaping Lelouch was not at all dignified. His automatic attempt to cover it up ended in a not much more impressive coughing fit. "Excuse me?"

"I just can't decide!" Milly exclaimed. "Depending on which stereotype I pick, I arrive at a completely different conclusion. The polls say it's Suzaku-"

"The _polls_?"

"-which makes sense from a certain perspective. You _have_ the agility of a mortally wounded penguin in the desert, and Suzaku is, well, the knight in shining armor to your sleeping beauty-"

"_Sleeping beauty_?"

"-and I suppose everyone also remembers how he saved you that day on the rooftop. But you're older, and about two centimeters taller-"

"Please tell me you didn't look that up."

"-and I'm sure you're at least good with the theory, even if you don't act like it. You also lack his tendency to spontaneously tear up, something that just doesn't work for the top... at all. And of course, if we leave the stereotypes for a moment, there's also the fact that you're the more feminine one."

"...What?"

"Not only do you look better in a pretty dress-" he was so put off by the whole situation that he didn't even manage to glare at her for bringing up _that_ event- "you're also the more bossy one. I think there's no doubt you're the girl in the relationship, secretly holding the reigns and having him trained to do your every whim. Now I just need to figure out who does the penetrating."

Once he had processed Milly's words and recovered from trying to keep up with her twisted logic, Lelouch finally managed to speak. "Why _the hell_ would you care about that?"

"Well, since Nina and I are the only ones who bet on you..."

"_Nina_?"

Milly grinned. "It took some convincing, but in the end, she had a surprisingly firm opinion on the matter. Rivalz put his money on Suzaku, by the way."

"Rivalz?"

"That one also took a bit of persuasion," Milly told him, clearly enjoying herself. Lelouch decided not to ask who else was involved. Just this once in his life, he refused to be disillusioned – well, any more than he already had been in the course of the last five minutes. "Don't worry, it was a purely hypothetical bet."

"Then how do you intend to win it?"

"Well, officially, you'll be giving me a purely hypothetical answer."

"People actually expect me to _do_ that?"

"Well... not really."

Lelouch felt some of his cruelly murdered faith in humanity return. "Then there you have it."

"Aw, come on, Lelouch!" Yes, definitely not letting her anywhere near Clovis. "Just a hint?"

"Forget it."

Milly pouted, but then sighed. "I knew you would say that."

"Then why did you even bother?"

She shrugged. "A girl has to try, hasn't she? Besides, after practicing on you, I have much better chances of getting something out of Suzaku."

"What?"

"See you later!"

"Wait! What? Don't you da-" But Milly was already half-way down the corridor.

.

According to the school's riding club, Suzaku was seen later that day hiding out in the stables, covered with straw and making pained, whimpering noises - as if he had seen evil herself and been turned into her personal source of amusement, an experience so terrible that the mere thought of his anguish would have instantly killed any lesser man.

Either that, or a cat had been attempting to eat him at the time. The witnesses didn't quite agree on that point.

x x x

"Keep it steady."

"Like this?"

"Yes. Now put it in."

"Are you... are you sure?"

"Do you think I would say something like that if I wasn't?"

"No, but..."

"Then _do it_."

"But Lelouch..."

"What is it, Suzaku?"

"I don't think it's supposed to feel like this."

"Then don't stick your finger in!"

"But..."

"No more buts! Just put it in and leave the technicalities to me. You're supposed to be concentrating on the physical part, remember? The one you are convinced would be 'too much' for me?"

"Still..."

"If you say it's too big to fit in next, I'm going to hurt you."

"That's not it! Well, I'm note sure about that, either... but I didn't mean it like that!"

Lelouch sighed, exasperated. "Just give it here!"

"No! You'll hurt yourself-"

"Damn it, Suzaku! Who of us is the expert here? Either you give me that fucking cake, or I'm going to tell Milly you can't even handle the domestic version and that she should just go for a giant pizza instead – obviously, all that yeast is _too much_ for you!"

"But I don't even see the point of doing it like this! It will be completely different at the festival!"

"Do you plan to tell her that?"

Suzaku shuddered. "No."

"Then shut up and put it in!"

"But what if it's too heavy and the stove-"

"All right, that's it! I'll let her know it didn't work out and that she should pick another, less _intimidating_ bakery product."

When he had made Suzaku set down the over-sized dish and cleaned everything up, he shot his best friend a look that spoke volumes. "I can't believe you made a fuss about a _cake_, of all things!"

"You wanted it to be something else from the beginning, though, didn't you?"

Suzaku's voice was soft, and Lelouch started.

It was true – the giant pizza had been more than just a spontaneous jab. Nunnally had suggested it to him, right before he had tracked down C.C. and informed her that the next time she tried to use his sister to influence him, he would make sure that that certain food chains in Area 11 went bankrupt. Who cared about economy?

He had told the presumptuous witch that she could forget about the whole thing, and that he would make sure anything _but_ pizza would get picked.

However, C.C. had been more difficult since then than he had imagined, and for some unfathomable reason, Nunnally – although she hadn't said anything to Milly - seemed genuinely taken with the idea.

So maybe... just maybe... Lelouch felt a little bad.

However, he hadn't thought it was that obvious. "Are you saying you've been wasting my time these past fifteen minutes because it suddenly occurred to you that I _might prefer pizza over cake_?"

"...Maybe?"

Lelouch stared. "You're such an idiot," he finally declared.

Suzaku's smile started out slightly rueful, but then morphed into something that made it so much harder to remain irritated. "Is that a bad thing?"

"No," Lelouch admitted with a huff. "But it's annoying."

He watched his friend's smile widen, and before he knew it, he was in front of Suzaku, trying to wipe that droll expression off his face through rather unconventional means.

Somehow, things just went from there, and although neither of them could have said how exactly it had happened afterwards, well...

Lelouch _did_ end up having sex on the kitchen table, after all.

x x x

"Tell me this is _not_ a swimming suit."

"This is not a swimming suit," Clovis parroted dutifully.

"Oh god," Lelouch groaned. "It's a swimming suit."

"You just had to contradict me, didn't you?"

"I hope you do not plan to put that on, because I'd have no idea whether to kill _you_ or myself."

"But Lelouch, don't you want to see my beautiful body in this _tight_-" His brother didn't interrupt him with words, but the unmistakable expression on his face did the job just as well. Clovis gasped dramatically. "Oh no... you think I'm fat!"

"...What?"

"Don't pretend!" He feigned a sob. "You think I'm fat! That's why you were looking at Schneizel that way!"

"_What?_"

"Like you wanted to devour him right then and there. Do unspeakable things to him..." he let a hand fly to his mouth, the other pointing at Lelouch accusingly. "It was you! The one who ate his underwear... and then you framed Cleopatra!"

"..._What?_

"You tried to distract me from the truth by using Darlton's shoes as a decoy, but now I can see it clearly. It explains so many things..."

"Like?"

"Like the tentacles!"

"What does _Schneizel_ have to do with tentacles?"

Clovis beckoned Lelouch closer.

"He talks to them," he informed the boy gravely.

"He talks to them."

Clovis nodded. "They call him the tentacle whisperer."

"'They' being..."

"Kanon Maldini."

"...All right, I'll go get myself a bucket now."

"It's too bad Schneizel didn't bring him...," Clovis mused. "Oh well. Where were we? Ah, yes, the swimming suit. I hate having to disappoint you, but wearing it myself would go against everything I believe in – it's not pink, after all. No cross dressing for me without pink. You are free to give it a try, though!"

"Thank you, I think I'll pass."

"Are you certain? I'm sure it would accentuate your curves very nicely."

"I'm sure it would cut off your air supply even better."

"Strange fetishes indeed. Oh well, if it's you, I'm willing to give it a chance! That is, after I've had Nunnally tell you that she would be _devastated_ if something were to happen to me. No need to tempt fate, no?"

"Could you stop waving that _thing_ in my face?"

"I could. But it's kind of entertaining."

"So is fratricide."

"Only if you're a socially retarded necrophiliac teenage boy who has to compensate the absence of tentacles," Clovis said. "You really don't feel like developing a sudden interest in swimming suits? I have to get beyond the prototypes one of these days, but there is some testing in order first-... oh my, I sound like Earl Asplund, don't I? Ah!" He snapped his fingers. "Do you think he would lend me Kururugi?"

"I could lend you C.C."

"Point taken." Clovis paused. "But did you never wonder what he would look like in a _close-fitting_ bikini-"

"No!"

"So you prefer the pilot suit? Well, I can't blame you. With an ass like that-"

"Will you _shut up already_? Suzaku's ass is none of you bus-"

"Oh, good evening, Darlton."

"-iness. _What?_" Lelouch whirled around.

And turned slightly pink when he saw Andreas Darlton standing in the doorway.

The man coughed softly. "Lord Gottwald asked me to inform you that Princess Euphemia is currently keeping Princess Nunnally company at Ashford Academy. I apologize for the intrusion, but the door..." Had been gaping wide open. Of course, he was too polite to finish the sentence.

Clovis decided that now that Cleopatra had learned how to let herself out of a room, someone needed to teach her that it was only courteous to close the door behind her.

"Excuse me." Darlton bowed, and was gone so fast as if he was fearing for the life of his shoes again.

The silence lasted until Clovis broke into a grin. "I've never seen Darlton blush quite that shade of red before!"

"...I hate you. I really do."

x x x

Darlton appeared before them once more that day, and when he did, it wasn't nearly as amusing as the first time around.

Not because the door had been properly closed by then and the man had actually gotten a chance to knock, as Clovis had initially thought, but due to an age-old law of the universe: when things go smoothly for too long, sooner or later, someone will drop a bomb in your yard.

Or, if you happen to be governor, in the Area assigned to you.

And in case that there is nothing you abhor more than being forced to concern yourself with politics and military matters, expect the bomb to take on a form that will lead to precisely such a thing.

"The bridges connecting to the Kyuushuu block have been destroyed," Darlton told them.

And Clovis knew things where about to get a lot less pleasurable.

.

.

**End of Chapter**

* * *

**Author's Note:** Ah, this chapter made me re-watch the Narita Arc (again). Seeing Lelouch go from "need to analyse the immortal" to a speech about how the white snow is beautiful always makes me want to hug him, and the light novels didn't exactly make it better.

And yet, somehow, I can't seem to stop torturing the characters. Oh well... as long as it's fun!

I'd offer cake to anyone who takes the time to leave a comment, but that might scare Suzaku, so let's go with pizza instead. Pizza is always good!


	10. Invasive Politics

Uh, I said my writing pace might decrease considerably, didn't I?

...Yeah, well. *looks at the date* I didn't expect _this_. All I have to say in my defense is that real life teamed up with a Writer's Block of Doom. Clovis was supposed to at least kill the latter, but when he saw what this chapter contained (invasions, invasions, people trying to wreck his nerves, even more invasions, ...), he went on a vacation instead. I'd have sent Lelouch after him, but coincidentally, he refused to give a damn. So you see, it's all _their_ fault!

No, really, I feel terrible, and I apologize for taking so long. Hopefully, it won't happen again – at the very least, the next chapter is pretty much written already, though it might still take a few days or even weeks to appear (as the devil is in the details). Also, I want to say that while there are reviews I haven't replied to because it just felt too awkward after such a long time, they were still greatly appreciated and made me giddy. Thank you!

.

**Chapter Title: **Invasive Politics**  
**

**Rating: **M**  
**

**Additional Warnings:** A plot that did not just _attempt_ to murder the randomness. Yes, that's right, the randomness has turned into a zombie trying to eat the plot's brains out!

It claims to be perfectly tame otherwise, though.

* * *

**Pleasures of Art  
- Chapter 10**

.

.**  
**

To say that Clovis was unhappy with the situation would have been an understatement.

It would probably have helped if the news hadn't taken him so much by surprise. Clovis hadn't expected the Chinese Federation to stay quiet forever with the way things were going, but this attack was a reaction both more sudden and more radical than he had anticipated. He had been careful to keep up appearances even with the Black Knights being so successful in their quest, to not show weakness to those who would joyfully exploit it and, by doing so, only serve to complicate matters that were delicate enough as it was; yet it seemed that Area 11's troubles were just too tempting, and that the only way to diminish that temptation was to crush those who had given in to it swiftly and mercilessly. Otherwise, who knew what would come next.

Another thing not beneficial to Clovis' mood was Lelouch. Clovis had not expected his younger brother to be overly sympathetic, but he didn't think showing some basic courtesy would have killed him. Instead, Lelouch had done his best to make things worse.

_I told you we should have sent her a diplomatic gift_, the little brat had said, a smirk on his face that had brought Clovis dangerously close to throwing a swimming suit at him that most likely wouldn't have survived the temporary lapse of temper. Then Lelouch had grabbed his jacket and headed straight for the door, doubtlessly intending to use this incident to further his goals and not feeling guilty in the slightest for leaving Clovis to deal with the kind of mess he abhorred above all else on his own.

The result had been sad indeed.

If someone had told Clovis beforehand that the day would come where he would voluntarily have a lengthy, meaningful conversation about politics with Schneizel, he would have laughed in their face. If that someone had furthermore revealed to him that he would come out of said conversation not annoyed, but considerably less aggravated than he had been at its start, he would have smiled at them, patted them on the head and sent them back to whatever place they must have escaped from.

It turned out, though, that even the most unpleasant of prospects could appear in a whole new light once it had become the lesser of two evils, and when Schneizel had contacted him shortly after Darlton's announcement and Lelouch's display of callousness, Clovis had been all too eager to answer the call. The outcome of the discussion that had followed had been fairly favorable, much more so than Clovis had expected, and that was most likely the one thing keeping him from going off to strangle someone.

Clovis had never been fond of the duties of a governor, but considering the circumstances, he appreciated the assistance all the more. The subject of statecraft was tiring and the military a nuisance, but they were bearable – when dealt with separately.

Handling invasions, Clovis was pretty sure, was not one of his most pronounced skills, nor was it an ability he particularly cared to hone. He simply lacked the motivation, even if he would probably have been able to hold his own against the enemy had Schneizel been less willing to help out.

Coming up with a suitable battle strategy would have been bothersome, but doable, however swiftly decisions had to be made. It was true that for all that he was a decent chess player, military tactics were not his specialty - he held no love for them, and Clovis had always been best at things he nurtured a passion for. He was, however, quite capable of forcing himself to make an effort if need arose, and he was fairly certain the result would be nothing to be ashamed of. It would never be enough to take on Lelouch or Schneizel, and neither would he be so suicidal as to challenge the Witch of Britannia on her preferred playground, but those were hardly examples for where to set the scale. Clovis had realized a long time ago that if he lived to beat people at their own game, he could only end up suffering from unpleasant headaches and a severe inferiority complex, which, really, was quite ridiculous for someone of his intellect and looks.

So instead, he lived to annoy them.

Well, actually, he just lived to annoy Lelouch – but that didn't mean he didn't see the appeal in straying from his target a bit when an opportunity presented itself. And if he hadn't exactly _told_ Cleopatra to eat his older brother's underwear, he hadn't made much of an effort to stop her, either.

Luckily, Schneizel didn't seem to have been attached to the possibly feminine piece of cloth nearly as much as Darlton had been to his shoes and had easily agreed to help take care of the issue at hand - which basically meant that Clovis had managed to dump the whole thing on his brother. Or at least, the military operation. While Schneizel was making all the necessary preparations from aboard the Avalon, Clovis had stayed behind in the Tokyo Settlement, and the situation demanded that he at least fulfill his basic function as governor.

Normally, the task of strengthening Area 11's diplomatic ties under these circumstances would have much sooner fallen to Schneizel, who specialized in that area and was even more dangerous as a diplomat than as a commander, and had it been someone else in Clovis' place, especially someone as proficient in battle as Cornelia, that was how it would most likely have went. However, Clovis was not at all bad at handling foreign relations if he set his mind to it, and his knowledge of human psychology was extensive enough that keeping order in Area 11 shouldn't be difficult as long as things didn't escalate. Warfare, on the other hand, was something he only knew how to carry out efficiently in theory, and as the military in Area 11 had already proven its lack of faith in his abilities, it was much more sensible to leave that part of the problem to someone else.

So far, there was nothing that indicated that there had been anything wrong with this decision. Not imposing Martial Law outside of the Kyuushuu area was a logical thing to do, and Clovis would have recognized it as a convenient means to decrease public anxiety even without Schneizel's well-meant pointer.

Having a few words with the EU and contacting the Britannian territories closest to Area 11 to keep the enemy on their toes and discourage them from taking reckless action was also something he could easily recognize as a wise move – with the Chinese Federation sponsoring an invasion, steps had to be taken to ensure that they would remain wary enough to not provide their countrymen with anything more than humanitarian aid.

And there was no doubt that the Chinese Federation was responsible. It was laughable that the whole affair most likely wouldn't lead to an open war – but that was just the way it went with politics. It was one of the many reasons why Clovis disliked them: they lacked subtlety.

Back home in the Britannian court, most people were out for each other's throats, but not even the most brash of them would ever make their intent so glaringly obvious. Social events, while not seldom having an underlying political agenda themselves, always were a careful dance revolving around anticipating your partner's steps and reacting in time, skillfully evading one another's feet and making it a priority to not get one's toes stepped on, or worse, proving ineptness by inelegantly stomping on those of of your partner for everyone to see. Jabs were dealt out in the guise of compliments, threats coated with honey before being offered like a precious gift that was graciously accepted by the other party. It was its own kind of art, one that let the usual forms of politics and diplomacy appear crude and uncivilized in comparison – they had no finesse.

He supposed that was why Lelouch liked them so much.

If his little brother wanted to, he was not at all bad at the games of the court, either, well-versed in the field of flattery and master at blindsiding people that he was. But Lelouch had no more patience for these things than Clovis had for military matters. He found them to be distasteful, despised them even, as he knew better than anyone that the waltz everyone was moving to was the deceptive silence of a lurking predator, the dance floor a nest of poisonous snakes.

Britannia was a ruthless nation that trampled the weak without hesitation, and its court was no exception. While the lower nobles who would dare to go against a member of the Royal Family were few, courtiers of influence rarely shared those inhibitions. They were secure enough in their positions to be more than comfortable employing any variety of underhanded tactics to increase their power and wealth, and not rarely did they have the support of one closest to the throne.

It was true that a surprising number of the princes and princesses of the Empire did not spend their days plotting each other's bloody demise, but most of them still regarded each other with suspicion, and if they themselves didn't take action, they had allies and relatives who would gladly do so in their place. The Imperial Consorts especially were quick to strike at an enemy, having no reason to fear repercussions for doing so as long as they showed some basic caution. They viewed one another as rivals at best and hardly ever collaborated, but when they formed an allegiance amongst themselves in order to deal damage to a particular bothersome foe, even the lips of the most zealous one of them would remain sealed. That was probably why there was hardly a sibling of his Lelouch did not suspect of having been involved in his mother's murder – because it was not impossible that they all _were_. Out of loyalty and self-interest, even those who did not crave the throne would hardly ever oppose their mothers.

Clovis knew, though, that there were fewer people involved than Lelouch most likely believed. His own mother was well-known for not having thought very highly of the commoner turned empress, and as much as he didn't like to admit it, if there had been a large-scale conspiracy amongst the imperial wives responsible for Lady Marianne's death, Gabriella la Britannia would have been part of it. He had no doubt about that, just like he had no doubt that no matter how skilled his mother was at the art of deception, he would be able to tell if she was hiding something of this magnitude.

He hadn't told his brother that, though – because Lelouch wouldn't care and only question his ability to read people correctly, and because stating out loud that his mother would have happily caused Lady Marianne's death herself wasn't something he felt particularly comfortable doing. It wasn't that he thought Lelouch hadn't figured that much out himself already... he'd just prefer to stay away from the subject altogether.

Speaking of Lelouch, there was one more factor that had Clovis uneasy. He wasn't going to deny that Area 11 could do with some more troupes now that the Chinese Federation was making its move, but he'd have gladly gone out of his way to organize those himself somehow if it had meant keeping away the Glaston Knights.

Clovis had an inkling that Cornelia was not planning to hurry home once this invasion business was over, and god knew he did not need that – Schneizel, at least, _pretended_ to not doubt his ability to run a country, not to mention that as Chancellor of the Empire, he couldn't stay in Area 11 forever. Cornelia had considerable more rope than that.

The worst thing about this development, however, was that he knew what Lelouch's reaction would be: his little brother was already severely unhappy with just Schneizel around. Adding Cornelia to that was like adding water to a gasoline-induced fire: it most likely would not end well.

In retrospect, Clovis wished he really _had_ sent a diplomatic gift.

x x x

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

Clovis looked up at his sister and smiled. "I'm happy to see you, too."

Euphie had the grace to appear sheepish. "I'm sorry. It's just that I don't want to simply stand by and wait for everyone else to take care of this. I'm a princess of Britannia, as well – there must be something I can do."

"Thank you," Clovis said, genuinely appreciating the sentiment even though he knew that his sister's readiness to get involved wasn't all that closely connected to him. "Unfortunately, I don't think there's much that can be done from here about the situation. I'd have asked you to help me prepare for Cornelia's arrival, but it seems Schneizel has already made arrangements."

"And if I went there?"

Clovis raised an eyebrow. "To the front?"

Euphie nodded, and Clovis couldn't help but respect her determination. Unlike him, Euphie knew how to pilot a Knightmare, but she was nowhere near as good as Cornelia or even the average soldier under her command; she had studied battle strategies, but she had never devised one herself. All she could achieve by heading to where the conflict was taking place was lift the troupes' morale, and she would be putting her life at risk for it.

It was admirable. It was also why Clovis could not possibly let her go.

"Do you want Lelouch to kill me?" He paused, shaking his head. "What am I saying? He wouldn't even _get to me_ in time. Do you want my handsome pate to grace the lance of Cornelia's favorite Knightmare? Because I assure you that if I send you anywhere near the front-lines, the first thing our dearest sister will do upon arriving here is organize a study on how fast I can run with the Glaston Knights chasing after me trying to chop me into little pieces, and the answer she will find is: not fast _enough_."

Euphie opened her mouth in the beginning of a reply, but when he met her gaze, his expression uncharacteristically serious, she closed it again without having said anything.

Clovis was not surprised to see the disappointment in his sister's eyes, but that didn't make him feel any better about it. He could guess what she was thinking, and she was right: it wasn't fair. Young as she might be, she _was_ Britannian royalty, and this matter concerned her even if she was only visiting the Area.

Ultimately, it wasn't even about her age. Lelouch was barely older than her, yet no one would have tried to keep him from applying himself to the task; and true as it was that Euphie was much more sheltered than him, she would never be able to gain experience if she was not given the opportunity.

Entering a conflict zone was always dangerous, certainly, but all things considered, what Euphie wanted to do was not that big a deal compared to what most of her siblings practically did for a hobby. She wouldn't actually participate in the battle, and as long as the Chinese Federation received no aid from the Black Knights, it was highly unlikely that the enemy would get anywhere near her. Considering that Lelouch had nothing to gain from opening the doors of Area 11 for but another occupier, one he had close to no ties to, the chances of that happening were slim.

However, if Clovis gave her permission and something happened after all, it would be entirely his fault. He could live with Lelouch trying to maim him, and he would be able to survive even Cornelia's wrath somehow, but if Euphie were to be harmed in any way because of him, he would never be able to look either of them in the eye again.

Or into the mirror. And really, that would just be inhumane.

In the end, it was Euphie's misfortune that she was blessed with enough overprotective older siblings to either lead a life longer and more boring than that of any other person or simply drop dead one day from sheer annoyance.

Considering that, Clovis decided a change of topic might be best. "Is Nunnally in her room already?"

Euphie hesitated for a moment, perhaps debating whether she should really allow herself to be lured into dropping the subject like that, but then she nodded. "She wanted to try and call Lelouch again." A concerned frown appeared on her features as she added, "He hasn't answered his phone since all this started."

"He hasn't?" Clovis asked. He had expected Lelouch to at least do that much, though he supposed their brother couldn't very well use his private phone in the presence of the terrorist he was undoubtedly mingling with. "Well, don't worry about it too much," he continued in an attempt to reassure his sister. "He has probably gone off to brood somewhere now that Schneizel has involved himself. You know how he gets."

Euphie didn't look convinced - and really, Clovis hadn't expected her to buy such a pathetic excuse, certainly not now that she knew about Lelouch's megalomania-driven activities -, but she gave another nod. "Well," she said after a moment. "I'll be going, then. I'm sorry for disturbing you."

"Not at all," Clovis said, feeling terrible at the dejected tone underlying her words; and so, when his sister turned to leave, he blurted out the first thing he could think of, "Why don't you pay _Camelot_ a visit?" Euphie halted in her steps and gave him a questioning look. Feeling less hurried now that he had her attention, Clovis explained more calmly, "It will still be some time until the Lancelot's deployment. Schneizel didn't fill me in on the details, but if you went this evening, they should still be here in Tokyo Settlement." As an afterthought, he added, "I could accompany you. If it appears official, Cornelia most likely won't mind, and even if she does, it's nothing she would disembowel me over." Probably.

"It wouldn't be too much trouble?"

"Of course not. I was thinking of dropping by later, anyway. I'd like to know what Schneizel is up to, but seeing how he and Cornelia will be risking their necks out there while I am sitting here in relative comfort, I'd feel stupid asking." _Relative comfort_ meaning that if military matters equaled Lelouch in a bad mood, paperwork was like a week without any sex whatsoever. Luckily, the two were not the same for him – something that could not be said for the entirety of humankind. He really did pity Kururugi. "Besides, I'm sure Cleopatra would appreciate some air."

Finally, Euphie smiled. "I'll go tell Nunnally."

Clovis knew that his sister would not forget so easily about Area 11's current predicament and her desired involvement in it, and he was well aware that he was a hypocrite for lecturing Lelouch when he himself was unwilling to let Euphie pick her own risks, but he still couldn't help the sigh of relief that escaped him the moment his sister closed the door behind her. He felt less like a horrible human being and more like an annoyingly overprotective brother now.

Some people would point out that the difference between the two is minimal.

x x x

"They are already aboard the Avalon?" Clovis was certain by now that he had angered some deity - there was just no other explanation for all the catastrophes that kept coming his way.

Maybe the God of Prudishness? He thought he'd have noticed if Lelouch had acquired God status recently, though. Was it karma, then? Perhaps he had been a dolphin in his last life and caused some artist or another to drown while attempting to steal his paint-brush... but the artist would have needed to be terrible at his profession for that scenario to work. Clovis would never have just stood by and watched someone with talent die - even as a dolphin. Maybe immortals were like black cats?

That had to be it.

At the moment, though, he couldn't have cared less about being jinxed. What mattered was that he had promised Euphie – and by extension Nunnally – that they would get to see Kururugi, and that he would not be able to keep his word now. There was no way they could set foot on the Avalon under these circumstances.

"It's all right," Euphie said with a smile that didn't seem forced, even if it didn't make it all the way to her eyes. "I should have known this was a bad time. I'm sorry, Nunnally." At her last words, she turned to the younger girl who was sitting beside her in her wheelchair.

Nunnally shook her head. "It's fine." She sounded genuine enough, but Clovis had seen the look of disappointment flash across her face only a few seconds earlier.

He was back to feeling horrible, and his sisters' kindness didn't make it better.

Furiously, he thought about what else would be able to lift their mood. "Why don't we catch some air regardless?" He tried eventually. "I'm sure we would be able to find something more unproblematic than the shopping mall." Or they could just evacuate one under the pretense of a terrorist attack, but that might be a bit drastic.

"No, it's all right," Nunnally said. "Maybe Lelouch will come here later?"

Clovis and Euphie exchanged glances. "Well, it's possible," Clovis said at last. "However, if you can't get in touch with him at the moment, let me at least see if I can manage to contact Kururugi after all. Just because you won't be able to speak with him in person doesn't mean you can't speak to him _at all_."

"Thank you." Nunnally smiled at him. Euphie, too, clearly looked happier at that suggestion.

Clovis only hoped Schneizel would not be present when he made his call. He didn't feel like being kindly told that no, an open conflict was not the best occasion for idle chats.

x x x

"The 'restoration of the independent nation of Japan'?" Clovis repeated as he turned off the TV. "My, what a noble goal. Now all they need to do is work very hard on the refinement of their speeches, put someone in front of the cameras who actually possesses _charisma_, and hope that the public will instantly fall head over heels for that person so that no one will have the presence of mind to notice how utterly ludicrous this whole thing is. In short, if they were me, all of their problems would be solved."

"I'm sure, your Highness."

Clovis gave Darlton a dubious look. "You know, this would be more fun if you didn't just agree with me."

"I apologize, your Highness."

Well, this was suspicious. For all that Clovis claimed Darlton was stiff, the man wasn't _that_ bad. While he took his duty very seriously, he wasn't a sucker for formalities. "Are you mocking me?"

"Of course not, your Highness."

"...This is revenge for the shoes, isn't it?"

"Not at all, your Highness."

"The pink tapestry?"

"Of course not, your Highness."

"The hair conditioner?"

"I wouldn't dream of it, your Highness." All right, the man was definitely making fun of him.

"...The thing about Kururugi's ass?"

Darlton cleared his throat. Apparently, he'd decided to pretend not to have heard that.

Naturally, Clovis wouldn't let him get away with it. "I hope you can be discreet concerning that particular matter," he said. "It's not of any technical importance, of course, but if Cornelia were to learn that our darling little brother is discussing the derrière of common soldiers..." He shook his head sadly. "She might misunderstand."

Darlton coughed. "Misunderstand, your Highness?"

"Indeed," Clovis said gravely. "All too easily, she could come to believe that Lelouch is merely being a hormonal teenager and losing focus accordingly, when in reality, it goes much deeper than that."

"Deeper?" Darlton sounded like he wasn't sure if he wanted to hear the answer.

Clovis waved him closer. After a moment's hesitation very much unlike him, the man complied, and Clovis leaned towards his ear. "Have you _seen_ Kururugi's ass?" he whispered conspiratorially.

The expression on Darlton's face almost made him miss Lelouch a little less.

x x x

Clovis wondered what his little brother was planning to do about the rumors that the Order of the Black Knights was actively supporting the invaders. Probably prove them false. After all, he couldn't very well ask the Chinese Federation to kindly play by his rules – well, he _could_, Clovis supposed, and if he used his Geass, there would actually be a point to it, but why go to the trouble?

Clovis hoped that he had judged the situation correctly and that with _Zero_ and Britannia having the same goal for once, this whole thing would go over relatively smoothly. He'd really appreciate not having to fight off yet another headache.

For now, things were all right. Not good, but all right. Euphie and Nunnally were talking to Kururugi – it seemed that the members of Camelot had only boarded the Avalon already because the Lancelot required some particular adjustments that might take a while. The boy had not even received his mission yet, which meant that he had quite a bit of time on his hands. It should be enough to take Nunnally's and Euphie's minds off Lelouch's persistent absence for a while.

In the meantime, Clovis was sorting through some documents – he had Darlton and Jeremiah around if he needed them, but considering they were supposed to keep an eye on the two princesses before anything else, he couldn't very well ask them to do _everything_. So far, the situation in Area 11 was relatively stable, but he'd rather not take any risks at this instant, which meant that he had to at least skim through a few of the reports that kept coming in. He had made the two men watch Cleopatra, though, because it appeared she had developed a _taste_ for the governor's office recently... from the walls to the paperweight, and that just wasn't healthy for anyone involved. She'd even tried to devour the curtains.

Clovis had decided that while he was at it, he might as well try to get information on what exactly Cornelia and Schneizel were up to, after all. However, partly for petty reasons and partly to keep his and Lelouch's cover as close to perfection as possible, he'd rather his curiosity did not get back to them, which meant there were only so many people he could go to with this. He'd get some details from one of them and then ask them nicely not to mention anything to anyone, at least unless they were asked. He'd come up with a believable reason for his request later.

Out of the two people he had in mind, though, Clovis quickly ruled out Earl Asplund – while unlikely to bring the matter to Schneizel's attention, Clovis didn't put it past the fanatic scientist to try and get something out of this in favor of some special project or another. It probably wouldn't mean the end of the world, but Clovis wasn't keen on finding out as long as there were alternatives.

And there were. Cecile Croomy was not someone to fall victim to his charms easily – if anything, the woman had a thing for Schneizel, and while a well-placed compliment from Clovis could fluster her, she was not the kind of person who would let superficial emotions get mixed up with her work. She seemed to care a great deal about Kururugi, though, and Clovis could work with that.

First, though, there was one more report demanding his attention.

Clovis sighed.

x x x

Clovis hadn't thought he would hear from Lelouch before the current mess was sorted out.

As always, his little brother defied his expectations.

You got used to it after a while.

"Why, hello there, little brother! To what do I owe the honor?"

"Why are the Glaston Knights on their way here?"

"I'm not going to ask how you found out about that," Clovis said. Using Geass on their older siblings' most trusted men really was bad etiquette. He refrained from commenting on that, though, because Lelouch sounded about ready to kill something – or someone, and while Clovis didn't think his little brother had placed any explosives inside his phone recently, he decided not to take the risk. "Cornelia offered her assistance," he told his brother, his voice mimicking the shrug Lelouch wouldn't be able to see. "Schneizel gracefully accepted."

"How is this any of Schneizel's business?"

"Well, excuse me for having better things to do with my time than try and prevent an invasion. If you're not satisfied with how our dear brother has chosen to handle this, maybe you should not have behaved like an obnoxious brat." Oh yes, for once, Clovis was pissed.

"In case you didn't notice, I'm leading a rebellion here!"

"And in case _you_ didn't notice, I positively loathe military matters."

"You'd risk us being executed for high treason because you dislike military matters?" Lelouch sounded incredulous.

"_Loathe_. And don't be over-dramatic. If anything, Schneizel's involvement in this serves as a convenient excuse for your sudden disappearance. I'll admit that Cornelia will be a problem, but I couldn't have refused her aid, either, if you don't want Schneizel to become suspicious. He knows I'd trade my fashion sense for an opportunity to dump the responsibility one someone else."

He could hear Lelouch take a deep breath. "Did you at least get your hands on their plans?"

"I thought you'd have found out about them from whoever told you about the Glaston Knights?"

"Sadly, no. It seems neither Schneizel nor Cornelia have divulged much to anyone yet."

"Well, I can't say I'm surprised. I tried to find out from Kururugi's direct superiors, but to no avail. It appears they will even get the details of their own operation only when it's about to be launched. I could contact you then if you tell me how to, but I'm not sure that would be helpful."

"I don't think it would."

Clovis hummed. "So you are going to crush that little fake-Japan?"

"Of course." Lelouch sounded much too smug there.

"Well, that's good to know. I was afraid you'd get seized by the passion of youth, let the Chinese Federation win, take over Area 11 with the help of your Geass and go for world domination right away."

"Now that you mention it..."

Clovis actually stared at the phone at that. "What?"

Lelouch snorted. "Don't be stupid. Having Geass is useful, but it can't create miracles by itself. The Chinese Federation never would take the Black Knight seriously if we didn't thwart their plans now."

"With 'take seriously' you mean 'accept that they are inferior and should just do as they are told by their betters', don't you?"

"Obviously."

Clovis rolled his eyes. "Did you call Nunnally?"

A short pause. "Not yet."

"Not yet? Lelouch, she's worried sick about you!"

"Well, I can't very well make private calls in this situation, can I? This line should be safe, but even now I'm taking a risk."

"What? You think Schneizel is monitoring Nunnally's phone so that he can trace her calls?" Clovis made sure to put all of the sheer _disbelief_ he felt into his voice.

"It doesn't matter," Lelouch cut their discussion off abruptly. "If I need information, I'll contact you again." Without giving him the time to respond, his little brother ended the call.

Clovis felt a sense of déjà vu.

He sighed. He was sure Lelouch would find a way to let Nunnally know he was safe – paranoid as his little brother may be, it wasn't enough to cancel out his sister complex. Clovis only hoped he would hurry up a little, because while talking to Kururugi seemed to have helped at first, it had only gotten worse afterwards. Nunnally had barely eaten in the last twelve hours.

"Your Highness."

Clovis jumped.

"Give me a heart attack, why don't you?" he said as he turned to Jeremiah. He paused when he saw the man's expression. "What is it?"

"Camelot has received their orders. It seems Prince Schneizel means to use the Lancelot as a decoy."

Clovis raised an eyebrow. "And?"

"I have talked to Miss Croomy about the matter. She was doing her best to appear confident during the conversation, but... your Highness, whatever your brother has planned for the Lancelot, I believe it borders on a suicide mission."

"It what!"

x x x

"I only asked you not to blow up friends of the family again! How can that be so hard?"

"You should calm down."

"I am calm!" Schneizel raised his brows at him. Clovis hated his reasonableness. "How can you _do_ that to Lelouch? To Nunnally?"

"We've talked about this before. Suzaku Kururugi is a soldier who knows the risks of his profession. He is also quite capable, and I believe it is possible for him to overcome this."

"_Possible_? Are you _listening_ to yourself?"

"I am sorry you feel so strongly about this," Schneizel said, and the fact that he sounded genuine only made it worse, "but the operation has already been launched. There is nothing that can be done at this point. Why not have faith in him? You must trust his abilities if you promoted him to Major."

"That was before the boy threw himself in front of the Hadron Cannon! How can you send him out there without any backup and expect him to come out in one piece when the odds are so clearly against him? If there's even the slightest complication, the only chance he will have is his status as the late Japanese Prime Minister's son, and I'm not sure he would surrender even to buy time. It's madness!"

"The choice was between sacrificing a single soldier and a whole squadron. Would you have acted differently in my position?"

Clovis recognized the reminder that it had been him who had transferred the responsibility to some else in the first place for what it was – they both knew he _would_ have acted differently -, but he wasn't about to let it shame him into silence. "So you admit he's a sacrifice?"

"If we are unfortunate, he may end up as such, but in that case, it will have been a necessary one."

"Are you serious?" He searched Schneizel's face. There was no remorse on his brother's features. Regret, yes, but not remorse. Clovis shook his head. He was well aware of Schneizel's utilitarian way of thinking, but now it hit him for the first time how completely impossible it was for him to _comprehend_ it.

"I see," he said after a pause, willing his voice to remain level. There was no point in arguing with his brother – Schneizel wouldn't change his mind about this. "I suppose we will indeed have no choice but to wait and hope for a positive outcome, then." Schneizel was looking at him intently, and Clovis realized he may have sounded a bit cold. "I understand your decision," he continued slowly, weighing his words. "I'd just hoped endangering Kururugi like that wouldn't be necessary again. Lelouch will probably be able to see the tactical merit in this," and go on a killing-spree nonetheless, "but I'd hate to upset Nunnally."

"That's understandable. If it comes down to that, I will talk to her."

Clovis gave a measured nod. "I apologize to have bothered you with this."

"It's quite all right."

"I wish you and sister luck, then." He ended the transmission and buried his face in his hands.

What had he done?

x x x

In the end, there was only one way he could think of to avoid disaster.

After trying to reach Lelouch on his regular cellphone despite knowing better, Clovis went to cut the problem at its root. He couldn't very well call off the operation as a whole, but he _could_ make sure the outcome wouldn't be devastating to anyone he cared about. Or at least, that was what he told himself - he might have had a better chance with Euphie or Nunnally present, but he didn't want to make this even harder on them; especially Nunnally, who was beginning to show unmistakable signs of distress after not having heard from Lelouch for so long.

Clovis had contemplated at least discussing the situation with Euphie, but eventually concluded that it was more important that Nunnally was being comforted by quite possibly the only person besides Kururugi capable of making a difference. Clovis liked to believe he was good at distracting people from their problems, but this went beyond that.

It was a well-known fact to anyone familiar with Lelouch that his love for his younger sister bordered on obsession, but what was less obvious was that this fixation wasn't completely one-sided. Lelouch was the one constant in Nunnally's life, and while she clearly didn't want him to go out of his way to fulfill her every wish, she heavily relied on him emotionally. Clovis supposed that it hadn't helped that there had been so few people for her to interact with in the Britannia court – from the moment they'd been back, Lelouch had done his best to keep her away from anyone he didn't trust, which meant that only Euphie had enjoyed the privilege of not being glared at, snapped at or being asked to leave with frosty politeness upon approaching her, and even then it had often been apparent that he wasn't sure whether to encourage his younger half-sister or push her away in an attempt to cut off all remaining ties with Cornelia.

Clovis doubted Lelouch fully understood the consequences of his actions, but then again, he didn't think his little brother had been exactly wrong in doing what he had. Lelouch had gone overboard, certainly, but if he had to name a member of the court he trusted aside from his favorite younger siblings, even Clovis would have some difficulty.

Schneizel wasn't someone to bring harm upon anyone for petty reasons, but given the right motivation, Clovis wasn't so sure he wouldn't turn even on family, and recent incidents had merely enhanced his wariness. Odysseus was harmless, but only as long as one disregarded his many supporters – there was a reason the First Prince had managed to keep his position and good health for so long despite his lack of political aptitude, and Clovis especially made it a point to stay the hell away from the man's mother. It wasn't that he particularly _disliked_ the woman, but many people had disappeared trying to take advantage of her son's somewhat gullible nature, and Clovis didn't feel like finding out whether her faith in the members of her family was anywhere near the level of Lelouch's, or just how much bad blood there was between her and Gabriella la Britannia.

His own mother would be another candidate, as she would never go against what she perceived to be Clovis' best interest; except that he knew for a fact that if it had been up to her, she would have left Lelouch and Nunnally in Japan to rot, and he wasn't sure that sentiment had changed much over time. There were a few acquaintances of his - mostly noblewomen - who seemed fairly amiable, but he hardly knew them well enough to be able to say anything about their intentions and disposition with certainty.

If Clovis really had to pick, he supposed he would go with Cornelia. The Witch of Britannia was a fearsome foe and content to abide by the Empire's twisted ideals, but she clearly believed family to be important. She was also the kind of person who would stab you in the front rather than the back, and Clovis could appreciate that. Honesty, however merciless, was not a quality found easily in the court of Britannia.

He was aware that Lelouch's assessment greatly differed from his in this case, but Clovis didn't care. The possibility that Cornelia had been responsible for Lady Marianne's murder seemed too absurd for him to even consider.

Still, he didn't blame Lelouch any more for his suspicions about their older sister than he blamed him for Nunnally's current anxiety. No one was perfect, and it wasn't his little brother's fault that he was socially challenged. Once they had taken down the Empire, he could always find the boy a good therapist.

Clovis glanced at his phone. Still no call from Lelouch. It seemed he'd have to do this by himself, then. It probably served him right – if he'd just thought things through from the start rather than focused on what tiresome an ordeal this invasion would pose to him, his little brother's lover would be a lot more likely to make it through the day alive.

He considered contacting Earl Asplund and his assistant first, but quickly discarded the idea. There was nothing either of the two could do at this point, and talking to them would only lead to a delay. In fact, he might very well end up having to explain himself to Schneizel, and then he may as well wave Kururugi goodbye, because even in the unlikely event that he managed to convince his brother after all, he couldn't afford to lose the time that would take. For all he knew, Lelouch's friend could be rushing into an early grave this very second.

Which was why he had to talk to the Lancelot's pilot directly.

Perhaps it wouldn't be easier to ask forgiveness than permission, but it certainly would be easier to bear his older siblings' displeasure for a while than to be responsible for his younger siblings' complete and utter desolation.

Besides, he was rather fond of the boy himself.

x x x

"Your Highness?" Kururugi was staring at him in astonishment.

"Major Kururugi," Clovis greeted genially. "I hope I'm not calling at a bad time?"

"Uhm, actually...," the pilot of the Lancelot began hesitatingly.

"Good," Clovis said, ignoring the objection even as he noted that the boy was engaged in what appeared to be fierce combat. He was confident that Kururugi could do a bit of multi-tasking, at least. "See, I am having this little problem here. My older brother is convinced that you can handle yourself, but my younger brother will skin me alive if that assumption proves to be incorrect, so fond of my life as I am, I thought I'd better check. What's the situation?"

Thankfully, Kururugi didn't ask why he hadn't just contacted the Avalon for that, even if he continued to look confused.

Then the boy visibly shook himself, and Clovis didn't like the expression that suddenly appeared on his face. "I'm sorry, your Highness."

Clovis felt his stomach drop. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"I know it's impudent of me, but may I make a final request?" Clovis was too busy processing the implication of the words to come up with an intelligent reply. After a heartbeat, Kururugi continued, "Could your erase all traces of my existence in the event that something happens to me? I don't want my friends at school to know about this. It will be fine if they believe I transferred."

"_What?_" All right, it was official: this boy had issues.

Kururugi apparently misunderstood. "Oh. I'm conceited to the very end, aren't I? I'm grateful for all you've done for me up until now. Could you also express my gratitude to Prince Schneizel and Lloyd... and Miss Cecile?"

Clovis couldn't believe what he was hearing. "That's it?" he asked. "You're going to let yourself be killed, just like that?"

"I'm running out of energy – I won't be able to hold out for much longer."

"Surrender, then."

Kururugi stared at him. "What?"

"You heard me. Surrender."

The boy shook his head. "I already refused."

"You refused? Did you, just for a second, think of Nunnally when you decided to go ahead and die? Of Euphie? Of _Lelouch_?"

Kururugi glanced away. "They'll... they'll be fine, after a while."

"Is that what you think?" Clovis asked. Realizing the answer to his question, he narrowed his eyes. "Listen, Kururugi, I don't know what your problem is and frankly, I don't care. You will _not_ cause my siblings grief. You will get out of this alive, and if you need to go to your knees and beg them to accept your surrender after all to make that happen, you will do so. Is that understood?"

The boy was looking at him with wide eyes, but before he could reply, his attention got captured by something else. This attack seemed more critical than the last one, but it were Kururgi's words, grave and terrifyingly final, that sent a chill down Clovis' spine, "It seems I really am out of energy now. I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused."

Clovis wanted to yell at him, at Schneizel, at Cornelia, but all he could do was stare in horror at what, he realized with an icy feeling of dread, were the last seconds of Suzaku Kururugi's life.

x x x

"Clovis is such an idiot," Lelouch said as he fired the Hadron Cannon. It would have been degrading to have to rely on technology developed by Schneizel, except that this was an improved, clearly _superior_ version of the weapon. Lloyd was probably having a fit right about now.

Watching the Chinese Ferderation's Knightmare Frames melt like Popsicles in a microwave, Lelouch smirked.

"That white-head – Lancelot, was it? – just has no grasp on subtlety," C.C. said, sounding faintly amused.

"Yes," Lelouch agreed, "but it seems his brutality is part of the plan this time. He rushes in and causes chaos in their headquarters. Even if he fails, it will make Cornelia's job easier. No doubt this was Schneizel's idea." He only managed not to spit the name out like something foul because at some point, he had grown annoyed at Clovis' cheerful comments about how _adorable_ his loathing of their older brother was.

The enemy quickly switched targets, but their attempt to shoot them down was an exceptionally pathetic one. Both of their attackers met the same fate as their comrades in an instant.

Once the Gawain's feet touched the ground, Lelouch addressed his friend, "Major Kururugi. Can the Lancelot still move?"

"So it _is_ you, Zero." Suzaku didn't sound particularly pleased to see him, and Lelouch could only hope that he wouldn't be anywhere near as stubborn about accepting help from him as he had been about joining his cause.

He wordlessly signaled for C.C. to offer the prepared item to his friend.

"...An energy filler?" Suzaku asked, and Lelouch decided that the genuine surprise in his voice was a good sign.

"I'm going to destroy the enemy's headquarters," he predicted. "What about you?"

The silence that followed his question couldn't have lasted more than a few seconds, but to Lelouch, it felt like an eternity. His gaze fixed on the Knightmare Frame that contained the one person besides Nunnally whose opinion of what he was doing mattered to him, he waited for the answer that would show him just how deep Suzaku's dislike of his methods did or didn't run.

Eventually, he got his reply. "I'm sorry, Zero," the pilot of the Lancelot said, sheathing the MVS, "but I can't allow that. _I'm_ going to destroy it first." And just like that, their temporary alliance had been formed, almost like in old times.

The Chinese Federation never knew what hit them.

x x x

"You've got to be kidding me," Clovis said.

"Is something the matter?" Darlton asked, sounding concerned.

Clovis shook his head, making an effort to suppress the tremble in his voice. "No," he said. "Nothing. Tell Euphie I'll be there in a second, will you?"

"As you wish." The man gave him a last appraising look and turned to leave.

Clovis watched him go before slumping against the wall in relief.

Trust Lelouch to save the day _after_ he'd died of a heart attack.

It was funny, in a way, but Clovis felt too drained to appreciate the humor of the situation. He wondered if his little brother had been aware of what was going on before he'd arrived at the scene. If so, would it really have hurt Lelouch to give him a call?

Clovis was certain that the shock had cut his life short by several decades.

Well, he had learned his lesson, at least. This had been the last time he'd left a potentially delicate matter to someone else, that was for sure. Even a military conference was better than _this_.

His legs still felt like they were about to give in.

Something cool, wet touched his hand, and Clovis looked down to see Cleopatra wagging her tail at him. He smiled, amused by her enthusiasm. At least _someone_ had gotten through this ordeal without any worries whatsoever.

"Did Darlton feed you yet?" he asked, petting her. He should probably go and make sure Kururugi was all right, but since his sisters were already planning on doing something to that effect, Jeremiah would need to accompany them and thus not be able to take over for him, and pretty much the same went for for Darlton – not that Clovis would have asked him, anyway. Cornelia would not hesitate to take an hour or two out of her day to tell him exactly why he should not shove his duties onto her men just to go visit a mere soldier, and a former Eleven at that. He may very well receive a lecture simply for allowing Euphie and Nunnally to go.

Clovis doubted that Kururugi has sustained serious injuries - he never did -, but if nothing else, he wanted to tell the boy that he was a greater threat to his nerves than even Lelouch and should therefore be shipped to an uninhibited island for the safety of humankind, as he was obviously defying the laws of nature. At least when his little brother had gotten himself blown up by Schneizel, Clovis had known there was no way Lelouch would just sit back and patiently wait for his own annihilation. Kururugi, on the other hand, had clearly been planning to do exactly that.

The boy's actions should be counted as attempted regicide, really. There was no way Clovis would allow him to just forget about the incident and go on with his life like nothing had happened. The only problem was that he had no idea how to go about his revenge when he couldn't even go to see the boy in person...

Clovis' eyes fell on the dog still nudging his hand and he felt a smirk lift the corners of his lips.

Suddenly, he was feeling a lot better.

x x x

Suzaku did not ask why Euphie wanted him to babysit a poodle. He did not complain when the dog stole his socks, seized his bed and kept jealously latching onto the hem of his shirt whenever he smelled Arthur on him. He didn't even say anything when he woke up one morning to find the animal drooling on his school uniform.

However, when he caught the dog trying to eat his underwear, he became slightly creeped out. He could have _sworn_ he had safely locked his drawer the night before.

.

.

**End of Chapter**

* * *

With this, it's totally established that Lelouch is the more romantic kind of avenger - after all, Clovis will just go after your pants, while Lelouch will want your heart! Literally. Isn't he cute?

Echem. In chapter 11, the randomness shall return - the smut in tow!

Until then, reviewers will get their very own energy filler! ...Well, or maybe I'll think of something else.

_*waves*_


	11. Delectable Ventures

I think it's a good thing I set myself a limit of one month, or I might have continued to go over this chapter again and again for another year or so before posting it. It wouldn't be so sad if I had made any major changes, but I just kept getting stuck on minor issues, and even now I have to forcefully restrain myself from obsessing over Evil Details of Doom.

Anyway, here it is - enjoy!

.

**Chapter Title: **Delectable Ventures

**Rating: **M**  
**

**Additional Warnings: **To celebrate its revival, the randomness has invited the smut over. Together, they shall take down the plot or die (again) trying!

Amongst other things, their armory contains Guilford, ice-cream and first dates; only two of which are connected. Beware!

* * *

**Pleasures of Art  
- Chapter 11**

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.**  
**

The ceremony held to welcome Cornelia to Area 11 was highly formal and impersonal, a mere spectacle for the media to feast upon. As neither Euphie nor Lelouch and Nunnally were planning to make their presence in the territory known, they remained absent, and even Schneizel was kept busy elsewhere, filling the Emperor in on what had transpired during the conflict with the Chinese Federation and probably discussing with him how to proceed.

While Clovis didn't abhor occasions like this the way he did so many others of his duties as a governor, they weren't particularly interesting, either, and all he could do was to wait for the event to end.

It took several hours, but eventually, it did, and Clovis was glad to finally be able to greet his sister properly. "_Aneue_," he said. "It's good to see you."

"Clovis," his sister acknowledged. And immediately added, "Still with the ungainly clothes, I see."

Clovis smiled, unruffled. "It would seem that way."

"It was not an advisable choice of a attire before, but it's not acceptable for the governor of an Area such as this one," she told him coldly. "People like you are the first to die in battle."

"How unsparing, for someone I haven't seen in a while," Clovis countered, still smiling. "You never change, either, sister."

Cornelia's gaze softened somewhat. "You should at least learn how to pilot a Knightmare Frame," she said, but it was an empty suggestion he had successfully ignored for almost a decade.

"Maybe some day," Clovis replied easily. "I hear there were no problems taking out Sawasaki?"

"The storm delayed us, but there were no significant losses. As expected, Schneizel's plan was flawless."

"But?"

"But," Cornelia said, her voice becoming sharp, "I'm not happy that an Eleven was involved."

"You mean Kururugi?"

"He may have the skill, but he is still just a Number. There was no need to rely on a non-Britannian when the Glaston Knights could have easily taken care of the matter."

"Wouldn't we have sustained considerable damage that way?"

"Not enough that the Chinese Federation would have dared to do anything stupid."

"I see," Clovis said. "Technically, he's a citizen of the Empire, though."

"Semantics," Cornelia told him, unimpressed. "The Honorary Britannian system is distasteful to begin with. The line between rulers and subjects should not be blurred."

Now that was slightly radical...

"You do realize he's a friend of Lelouch's and Nunnally's?"

"So Euphie keeps telling me. It's highly inappropriate, but from what she has told me, there's not much I will be able do about it."

Clovis tilted his head slightly. "Is that all?"

"What else would there be?"

"Oh, I don't know. Perhaps a sentiment along the lines of, 'It's a wonder Lelouch has friends at all, so let's not interfere and be happy he still remembers how to socialize'?"

"That's ridiculous," Cornelia scoffed. "He can make friends in the appropriate circles. There is no reason for him to associate with a Number."

_Except that the Number has a very nice ass_, Clovis thought.

"...Why are you grinning?"

"Ah, forgive me. I was merely remembering something."

Cornelia gave him a curious look, but didn't ask. It was probably better that way for both of them.

x x x

"Cornelia," Lelouch said.

"Lelouch. Is Nunnally here, too?"

"No, she's at Ashford – it will be a while before she's able to come. She asked me to relay her greetings to you, though."

"I see," Cornelia said. "Have the two of you been well?"

"Quite so. I believe studying in Area 11 was the right decision. Nunnally has made a lot of friends."

"So I hear."

Something about Cornelia's tone was off, and Lelouch could guess what it was. He inquired anyway. "Is there something wrong?"

Cornelia wasn't one to beat around the bush. "Why a Number, Lelouch?" she asked. "You should know that the distinction between those who rule and those who are ruled is important. It may only be a private matter now, but if it ever becomes known that a Prince of Britannia considers an Eleven his friend, people might forget their place. Even more importantly, it could damage your standing in the court."

In a stern voice, she added, "You should think of Nunnally." Lelouch had calmly listened to her until then, having expected something like this, but it was that last remark which got to him. All his carefully prepared words crumbled to nothing - the audacity!

"What _standing_, sister?" he demanded to know. "There is no such thing for me and Nunnally. Or did you forget? How the Emperor himself discarded us. Don't try to tell me what is best for Nunnally – we've been doing fine on our own the last eight years. It's a bit late to try and control our actions, don't you think?"

"I didn't mean-"

"Of course you didn't. If you'd excuse me, I believe Clovis wanted to talk to me."

With that, Lelouch walked past his sister, leaving her to stare after him in bewilderment.

x x x

"I still think you're just being paranoid."

"You mentioned as much."

"And it doesn't make a difference to you, does it?" Clovis placed his hands on the back of the chair Lelouch was sitting on, looking over his brother's shoulder. As usual, the documents lying on the table didn't particularly interest him, and the only thing he noted about them was that they seemed to be dealing with finances. "You don't care that Cornelia could never have brought herself to do it, or that of almost all the members of the court, Schneizel has the least of a motive."

"Couldn't have brought herself to do it?" Lelouch asked, ignoring the last part. "We're talking about the Witch of Britannia."

"Who was visibly shaken by the incident," Clovis pointed out and then sighed. "You weren't there, Lelouch. You should have seen her – during the time you and Nunnally were gone, she was barely herself. Her facade was good, but not perfect."

His brother scoffed. "And I'm sure you're going to tell me that Schneizel was completely heartbroken next."

"Schneizel...," Clovis said, a bit more reluctantly. "You know he's not easy to read. But he doesn't do anything without a reason, and there's nothing he would have gained from killing her." And he _had_ seemed regretful, not that Lelouch would want to hear that.

However, it seemed Clovis had already said too much. Lelouch whirled around, his face twisted in anger and contempt. "If you're so sure, then why did you say they knew something?"

Clovis blinked. "I did?" he asked before it dawned on him. "You never mentioned that," he said – not accusingly, or even as an expression of surprise; it was the simple stating of a fact.

Lelouch didn't react, and Clovis wondered if his brother truly wanted an explanation or was merely waiting for him to make a wrong move – to give away the game, whatever that meant considering they had already established that he hadn't been involved in Marianne vi Britannia's murder.

"Since I can't remember, I don't know what exactly I said and why, but considering the circumstances, I'm pretty sure I meant it literally." Clovis hadn't intended to sound so haughty, but found that he couldn't help himself. "If I indeed told you that they _know something_, then maybe you should leave personal interpretations out of this and remember that Cornelia _did_ look into the matter herself. I was there when Euphie mentioned it to you. And if you spent a bit more time around her and Schneizel, you would have noticed that they talk about a lot of things I am not privy to. They're mostly political matters, but I'm almost certain there are other things they do not tell me simply because they don't think it concerns me. If you take that into account, it should occur to you just why I find it to be rather likely that they 'know something'."

"Are you done?"

"Actually, no. Have you ever thought about _asking_ them? I understand why you would not want to go to Schneizel with this, but Cornelia? I'm surprised she never attempted to discuss with you what happened that night. Then again, I can see why she wouldn't want to be the one to approach the subject. In any case, I highly doubt her reasons are sinister."

"Then why did she order the guards to be removed?"

Clovis looked at his brother in astonishment. "What?"

Lelouch snorted. "Oh, now that's rich. You preach to me about this when you have really no idea. I should have known."

"Well, if you would actually _talk to me_, then maybe I would not offend you with my ignorance!" Obviously this whole Zero thing was getting to him, because the words had left his mouth before he so much as became aware of thinking them.

Lelouch seemed even more surprised at his outburst than Clovis himself. It was a cold comfort.

He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "Look, I'm not telling you what you should do. Maybe I'm wrong and they are guilty. And perhaps imagining Euphie's face if it turned out you were right about Cornelia doesn't exactly help my already non-existent objectivity. But I _am_ trying to help – just... try to keep that in mind?"

He slowly lowered his head onto Lelouch's shoulder, giving his brother the opportunity to make it clear if he was too angry to tolerate the contact. But even though Lelouch still didn't appear overly amiable, he neither stopped him nor moved away, and Clovis had to admit he hadn't really been expecting so much civility.

"Do what you want," Lelouch said – quite coolly, but coming from him under the given circumstances, the tone really didn't matter.

Clovis wondered if hugging him now would be pushing it.

x x x

"A ball?" Lelouch asked.

Euphie nodded, smiling. "Since it's a masked ball, it will be all right for me to go. I think that's why Clovis picked the theme." She giggled. "He even managed to rope in Cornelia."

Lelouch stared. "How did he do _that_?" he asked, slightly impressed despite himself. Cornelia hated grand festivities - nearly as much as Lelouch himself did. Not only did she almost end up decapitating whole swarms of suitors and bootlickers every time, she positively despised how long it usually took her to get ready. She deemed putting on make-up and lavish dresses a waste of time, but wasn't quite willing to break with custom.

"He kept asking."

"That's all?"

Euphie's eyes shone with amusement. "He really _kept asking_," she explained. "When she left her room in the morning, during breakfast, when she looked into how Area 11's military is doing – even when she returned from the toilet."

"I'm surprised she didn't do anything lethal to him."

"She might have," Euphie conceded, "but he knows sister can't stay angry at him for long, so he just kept disappearing for a few hours afterwards."

Lelouch snorted. That sounded like Clovis.

"Do you want to come, too?" Euphie suddenly asked. "We could go together."

Lelouch shook his head slowly. "I'd rather not risk it. It's very unlikely that anyone would recognize me, but the media will be there. If any of the nobles realizes it's you, they'd wonder who your partner is, and things could become complicated. Besides, I have to help Milly clean up after the school festival."

"I see," Euphie said, clearly disappointed. Lelouch felt a stab of guilt.

"I'm sorry."

She shook her head. "I understand. It's just... I can't spend time with Cornelia in public, so I'm a bit nervous. I've never been to a ball all on my own."

"I see," Lelouch said, unsure how to proceed. Where was Clovis when you needed him? He wasn't good with these things.

Euphie seemed to notice. "It's all right!" she assured him. "It's not like I'll really be alone. Clovis will be there, and if I know my sister, she won't let me out of her sight for even a second."

Euphie was smiling at him, but that only made Lelouch feel slightly better. Suddenly, an idea came to him. "Why don't you ask Suzaku?"

His sister blinked. "Suzaku? But... wouldn't it be bad for him if anyone recognized him, too?"

"They probably won't," Lelouch said. "No one would expect you to be attended by a 'Number', and it's unlikely you'll be recognized in the first place. I'm just being cautious – to be honest, I'm surprised no one at Ashford has figured it out on their own by now."

Euphie nodded, her face lighting up. "I'll ask him," she told him. "Thank you, Lelouch!"

Her bright smile made Lelouch feel both warm and strangely ill at ease.

x x x

"Are you still worried about Cornelia?"

"She's messing up my plans," Lelouch said. "I intended to wait with my next move until Schneizel is gone, but now it won't make much of a difference. She's going to plunge into battle, and for Euphie's sake, I can't harm her... not until I know for sure."

"If you're so suspicious, why don't you just use your Geass on her? It might come in handy with Schneizel later on, I give you that, but you hardly need it to gain an advantage over Cornelia. Are you really that afraid the Emperor could find out?"

Lelouch snorted at the inane question. "We have no idea how much he knows, and if he gets wind of this power I've obtained, it will be over. I can't take the risk until I have at least secured Japan."

Clovis sighed. "Then why don't you just stop over-thinking things? Just tell her you have everything under control and she will leave in a few weeks at most. I know you think everyone is out to get you, but she's only worried. She probably believes I will make a fatal blunder eventually and get us all killed, so if you tell her you're handling the situation, she'll be reassured. She has a fairly high opinion of you, you know?"

Lelouch remained silent for a while. "Even if that's true," he finally said, "I don't think that will be possible anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"We had a... disagreement."

"A disagreement? About what?"

"Suzaku."

"Well, that was to be expected, wasn't it? It can't have gone too badly, though. She didn't really seem angry when I talked to her before."

"Maybe she wasn't," Lelouch conceded. "But I... lost my temper."

Clovis blinked at him. "Lost your temper? What did she do to warrant that?"

"Nothing," Lelouch ground out. "I overreacted, all right? She brought Nunnally into it and I just-" He broke off, biting his lip. How could he have made such a stupid mistake? Regardless of whether he could have talked Cornelia into getting the hell out of Area 11, what he had said wouldn't exactly help deflect any suspicions she may begin to foment in the future. It also had the potential to make things extremely awkward for Nunnally and Euphie.

Worst of all, though, it had been completely unnecessary. He'd been playing nice for years – he would only have needed to keep up the act a little longer and it wouldn't have mattered anymore.

"Why is it that every time you're emotionally invested in something, all your logic and foresight go to hell?" Clovis asked, shaking his head rather dramatically. "That's why I keep telling you to take it easy. With all this stress you're putting yourself under, it's no surprise you get cranky – more so than usual, that is. Even my nerves have gotten torn to pieces recently, and I'm not even _doing_ anything."

"That's because you're a whiny idiot," Lelouch told him.

"Maybe," Clovis replied, shrugging his shoulders languidly. "It's more healthy than being an emotionally repressed genius, though. We definitely should do something about that. Oh," his brother suddenly exclaimed, clapping his hands in delight, "I have the perfect idea!"

Lelouch got a very nasty feeling.

x x x

"Relaxation exercises?" Nunnally asked, tilting her head.

"Yes," Clovis affirmed cheerily, ignoring his little brother's glare. If looks could kill, he'd have dropped dead on the spot. "You see," he continued in a more serious tone, "it seems Lelouch has been having some difficulties with his teachers-" that wasn't really a lie- "and I have reason to believe recent events have been getting to him more than he lets on. It's nothing serious, of course, but these things can lead to migraine, mood swings and all kinds of other unpleasant experiences, so I thought it'd be better to take care of it now rather than later."

Nunnally nodded thoughtfully. "Brother _has_ been acting a bit strange lately."

The look of horrified betrayal on Lelouch's face almost had Clovis burst out laughing, but he forced the amusement out of his voice as he resumed talking, "That's why I need your help. Lelouch, being his usual stubborn self, will pretend he needs no such thing; so if he refuses to cooperate, I will inform you - in which case you will have to give him a stern talking to. Would you do that?"

"Of course!" She turned to Lelouch, smiling. "It's nice of Clovis-_oniisama_ to help you with this, isn't it?"

Lelouch returned the smile, but it looked incredibly strained. "Yes, Nunnally, very nice." He glanced at Clovis._ You're dead_, he mouthed.

Clovis just joined in on the smiling.

x x x

"I'll kill you."

By now, Clovis was quite used to that particularly threat. "I think that would count as 'refusing to cooperate', though, wouldn't it?"

"No one will ever know. I will make it appear like an accident. A tragic, gruesome accident."

"I see," Clovis said. "I'll be watching my back, then. While I'm still amongst the living, however, let's not disappoint Nunnally. I've got everything prepared already!"

Lelouch crossed his arms. "I'm not going to partake in your ridiculous scheme."

"Don't be that way - it's for your own good! Besides, it's nothing terrible. You'll thank me later. Well, if you ever regain your manners, which you probably won't... but you get the idea."

"Why do I doubt that?"

"Because you're a miserable little pessimist?" Clovis suggested. "Now come." Lelouch snorted, but didn't resist when Clovis steered him towards the bed.

His little brother's obligingness wasn't all that unexpected, despite his words. Clovis was fairly sure that if Lelouch had really been planning to refuse outright, he wouldn't have shown up at all - except to murder him in his sleep, maybe.

Now that he thought about it, his little brother had been oddly complaisant since their slight difference of opinion the other day.

"And now?" Lelouch wanted to know.

"Now," Clovis replied, grinning, "we'll get you to _relax_. Take your shirt off and lie down, would you?"

Lelouch gave him a dubious look, and Clovis rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to do anything you don't want me to – I like my limbs, thank you very much. Just play along a little?"

Remarkably, his brother did. After holding Clovis' gaze for a few seconds longer, he casually unbuttoned his shirt and, once he had put the by then neatly folded piece of cloth aside, lowered himself onto the mattress with the same deliberate lack of haste. When he caught Clovis' eyes again, it felt almost like a challenge.

Clovis smiled. "You know," he said, selecting a paint-brush from the many utensils positioned on the bedside table, "while painting you is incredibly entertaining, I always thought painting _on_ you would be even more of a stimulating experience."

"...You can't be serious."

"Oh, but I am. And you know what the best thing is?"

The expression on Lelouch's face made it clear he was dreading the answer already, but he asked nonetheless, "What?"

Clovis grinned brightly. "It's edible!"

His little brother groaned, but not quite in anticipation. "I thought we'd established that therapeutic sex is not going to make it on my to-do list? Ever?"

Clovis widened his eyes. "But Lelouch, it's therapeutic _painting_! It's right up there with therapeutic massages and therapeutic cooking, only that it's much more sophisticated!"

"You're an idiot."

"And you're not saying no. Though if you're _really_ averse to the idea, no doubt I'd be able to think of something else that would enable me too keep my promise to Nunnally. It would be a shame, of course, but - ah well. I could always lock the paint in a room with Cornelia and Guilford and see what happens."

Lelouch grimaced. "Don't. Just... don't."

Clovis gave his brother a brilliant smile. "So you're agreeing?"

A short pause. "On one condition," Lelouch finally said.

"What is it?"

"You're going to sort out this mess with Cornelia for me."

Clovis felt his jaw drop. "What? How am I supposed to do that?"

Lelouch shrugged, smiling in a way that would make Satan himself seem like a cute little lion cub at best. "That's your problem."

"You... you planned this!"

"Congratulations on your noting of the obvious. If it makes you feel better, I'm sure not having to deal with her will prove very beneficial to my stress level. Now?"

"You... you... spawn of the devil!"

Lelouch raised an eyebrow. "That's one I haven't heard before. I'm sure the vast majority of Japanese would agree, though. Of course, you'd have insulted yourself in that case, but I won't even consider the alternative, because then I'd have to kill you in earnest."

"Brat."

"I'm still waiting for an answer."

"Oh, all right," Clovis said. "I can try. I won't guarantee anything, though."

"Not good enough."

"What? Who do you think I am, the Wizard of Oz?"

"Now that you mention it, I suppose it would fit - only that you will need to get the Witch's broomstick yourself."

Clovis adopted a thoughtful expression. "You want me to kidnap Guilford?"

Lelouch gave him a blank look. "What?" He asked. Then, "You're disgusting."

"And you're lying half-naked in my bed, so I'm not sure what that says about you."

"If you don't make up your mind soon, I won't be for much longer."

"All right, all right," Clovis said. "I'll come up with something." If it went badly, he could always bring in tragic childhoods... and perhaps missing puppies. Missing puppies always worked.

What had Lelouch said to her, anyway?

Lelouch smirked. "Good."

"In return," Clovis said, his lips mirroring Lelouch's, "we're going to do this my way, though."

"Suit yourself," Lelouch retorted simply. "I'll be sure to let you know if you displease me."

"...That sounded incredibly hot."

Lelouch snorted. "So easily contented."

"Only by you," Clovis told his brother and dipped the paint-brush he was still holding into one of the body colors. "Let's see..." He paused when he noticed Lelouch's less than thrilled expression. "What?" he asked, brush hovering over his brother's stomach, which, pale and soft and smooth, seemed like the perfect canvas to Clovis.

"Why does it always have to be pink with you?"

"You're supposed to relax, not play art critic."

"It's hard to ignore your inadequacies when it's _my_ body I have to watch being turned into some hideous abomination."

"Well, you will just have to close your eyes then, won't you?"

It didn't take long for Lelouch to realize he'd meant that literally. "What?"

"My way," Clovis reminded him happily. "Unless you want to deal with both a crestfallen Nunnally and a potentially murderous Cornelia?"

Lelouch looked seriously conflicted, and Clovis realized that while the body paint wasn't that big a deal to his little brother, the prospect of keeping his eyes shut the whole time was.

It was only natural, Clovis supposed. Lelouch didn't like feeling vulnerable, and being unable to see what someone else was doing to him would certainly have that effect on him. He could always simply open his eyes again, of course, but that would be the same as admitting that he was uncomfortable – from Lelouch's point of view, a display of weakness all in its own right from.

After debating the matter for a moment, Clovis decided to at least try. He put the brush aside and leaned in to kiss Lelouch, who reciprocated after a second and allowed himself to truly focus on the action after another.

"Close your eyes?" Clovis coaxed when they parted.

"I...," Lelouch began, at once looking terribly tense again, and Clovis sighed softly.

"Forget I said anything – it was a stupid idea."

"Well, at least you realize it," Lelouch said after the briefest of silences. And then, sounding as if the words would have been accompanied by a casual shrug had he been sitting upright, "I don't really mind, though."

Clovis looked at him in surprise. "You don't?"

"Stay away from the eye-sore and we have a deal."

Clovis broke into a grin. "Done."

x x x

Lelouch found that relaxing wasn't as hard as he had thought it would be.

The strokes of the brush, while feeling somewhat cool against his skin at first, weren't unpleasant, and Clovis, ever the artist, was too absorbed in what he was doing to make an annoyance of himself. Of course, if it came down to it, Lelouch had no doubts that his brother would be easily distracted by the possibility of more _exciting_ activities, but for now, the movements of his hand were continuous and determined, as they had been for the past fifteen minutes or so.

Considering that, and in the light of the fact that his brother had focused his attention on his stomach and not strayed from that area even once, it wasn't all that hard to keep his thoughts from wandering too far in that direction, even when the bristles came in contact with his navel and made Lelouch feel more than just ticklish.

Not being able to simply _observe_ had taken a while to get accustomed to, but Lelouch had agreed to the self-imposed restriction of his senses exactly for that very reason – because his instinctive reluctance was utterly illogical, and he refused to be tied down by laughable sentiments. If he could sleep in the same bed as Clovis, he could do _this_. It wasn't like he distrusted him, per se. He just hated no being able to predict his actions half the time.

Still, he couldn't help the strange mixture of unease and anticipation when the brush paused in mid-stroke at last.

"Well," Clovis said after a moment. "I think I have just proven to myself that body colors can rarely be found at exhibitions for a reason."

"Glad I could be of assistance," Lelouch told him snidely, more irked by the anticlimactic announcement than he had thought possible.

Clovis didn't even seem to notice. "Maybe I should try mixing it with the blue one..." He actually sounded _serious_.

Lelouch slowly sucked in air. He was calm. He was completely, entirely calm and certainly not about to-

...Oh, for god's sake!

Lelouch snapped his eyes open and, with the most expressive glare he could muster, grabbed his brother's hair. Clovis was too perplexed to react, even as Lelouch pulled him into a rough kiss.

A few seconds later, it was his brother who was lying on his back, Lelouch on top of him.

Clovis blinked. "I guess I should have tried body colors sooner?" he asked cautiously. Then, "Don't you at least want to get cleaned up before you ravish me? I rather like my clothes." Lelouch just kept _looking_ at him. Finally, "My clothes are doomed, aren't they?"

Instead of answering, Lelouch used his tongue to silence his brother.

Clovis didn't seem like he would have complained, anyway.

x x x

"Ahh, could you _please_ just-"

"No."

"At least-"

"No."

"Oh god, I hate yo- _ah_."

"Shut up."

Clovis did.

x x x

Lelouch decided he could get used to this.

While he felt that needlessly encouraging his brother in his usual advances was beneath him, he couldn't deny that there was something very appealing about the way Clovis threw his head back as Lelouch's fingers finally hit _that_ spot, abandoning himself to pleasure without a second thought. Suzaku was always so much more reluctant to let himself go, as if he would somehow do Lelouch a disservice by not focusing his complete attention on him for even the blink of an eye.

Paradoxically, Clovis was also quieter than Suzaku, perhaps because he knew very well that many of the walls in the government building were thinner than they looked. Regardless of the reason, though, it thrilled Lelouch - the knowledge that a simple touch from him could extinguish his brother's usual chattiness in an instant.

Most importantly, however, there was no underlying agitation: no nagging doubts at the back of his mind as to how long this could last, no feeling guilty for keeping too many secrets, and no burning frustration due to either – only the satisfaction of having Clovis at his mercy, unable to do anything but gasp and writhe beneath him.

He retracted his hand, ignoring his brother's whine of protest (could the idiot _ever_ stop being dramatic?), and lapped at Clovis' still-exposed throat, enjoying the hitch in his brother's breathing at the simple act.

Slowly, he made his way up Clovis' jugular, teeth nibbling, taunting. He wasn't planning on giving his brother an opportunity to try and rush him again.

Clovis moaned, just loud enough to send a wave of excitement through Lelouch. He bit down on his brother's shoulder, hard, and Clovis gasped, the sound one of pleasure even as his face contorted in pain.

Lelouch captured his brother's parted lips in a hungry kiss, but it only lasted a few seconds before Clovis broke away abruptly. "Would you just fuck me already?" he snapped.

Lelouch couldn't say he had been expecting that; however, he quickly overcame his surprise. "Oh, I don't know." He smirked. "I find this is helping my stress level quite a bit."

"Screw your stress level! If you don't get this done within in the next five minutes, I swear I'll moan your name so loudly everyone in the building will fall out of their bed."

Lelouch stared at his brother. "You're bluffing."

"Try me."

Lelouch almost did, but then he remembered that Euphie and Nunnally were sleeping only a few corridors away and wordlessly went for the lube.

Not long after, Lelouch was happy to discover that under _certain circumstances_, Clovis was a lot less inclined to be difficult. Needless to say, his brother soon regretted shooting off his mouth.

x x x

It was several hours later that Clovis picked up the brush again.

Lelouch stared at him in disbelief.

"I didn't get to finish," Clovis told him, as if that explained everything. Since Clovis was Clovis, Lelouch supposed it did. "You don't mind, do you?"

"I don't care," Lelouch said, "but I'm not going to move even an inch."

His brother beamed. "That's fine!" he exclaimed and reached for the colors.

Lelouch decided to do the reasonable thing and go back to sleep.

x x x

His plans got canceled when he realized it was _not_ his stomach Clovis was concerned with this time.

He also discovered that his nipples and paint-brushes did not go well together. With both him and Clovis devoid of any clothing and the covers thrown back, his arousal was quite visible - which was kind of embarrassing considering the circumstances.

Clovis just smiled at him in amusement, said something about a minor flaw in his masterpiece and proceeded to correct it. With his tongue.

The following thirty minutes mostly consisted of gasping, hip-bucking and claims that the body paint was _delicious_ and that Lelouch just _had_ to try it. He never did, but that certainly didn't stop his brother from demonstrating in great detail how incredibly _tasty_ he found those colors to be, the red one especially. Since "the red one" just so happened to come into contact with Lelouch's hand, another round of demonstrating, gasping and hip-bucking followed.

It was an interesting night, to say the least.

x x x

"What's that?" Lelouch asked, eying the items his brother had pressed into his hand.

"What does it look like?"

"A joke."

"And why is that?"

"Do you really have to ask? What the heck am I supposed to do with _tickets for an amusement park_?"

"Let's see... how about go and have some fun?"

"Fun," Lelouch said.

"Fun," Clovis confirmed, smiling at him. "It's about time you took Kururugi on a proper date."

Lelouch spluttered. "_Date?_"

"Don't tell me you've never been to one before." Lelouch just stared at his brother. "Oh god, that's sad. You do know how that kind of thing works, though, don't you? Please tell me you do."

"Of course I know how it works - it's not like it's that big of a deal!"

A long, scrutinizing look. "All right, just humor me here: what is a date, in your opinion?"

"That's a stupid question. It's a common form of courtship with the purpose of assessing the other's suitability as a partner in an intimate relationship. However, I really don't see how such a thing is necessa-" Lelouch broke off when he noticed that his brother had buried his face in his hands. His shoulders were trembling and he was emitting muffled sounds of... were that sobs or was it laughter?

"I... oh my god... you're..."

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing. It's sad. So sad. You poor, antisocial thing without any knowledge on basic human interaction whatsoever."

"What is your _problem_?"

"My problem," Clovis said, still actively stifling gasps of laughter, "is that you sound like an alien who has attempted to study humanity and failed. You were going to say that because you and Kururugi get along well enough and spend lots of time with each other in school, there's no need to 'assess each other's suitability as a partner' anymore, weren't you?"

"So? ...Stop _giggling_!"

"All right, all right. I'm fine. But see, the kind of date I was talking about is not about," his brother made a vague gesture with his hand, "evaluating each other."

"Then what's the point?"

"The point," Clovis said, "is to have fun. And maybe kiss. And perhaps have some steamy sex on the Ferris wheel."

"What? People go on dates just to have sex on the Ferris wheel?"

"Sometimes. And sometimes it's the toilet of a cinema. Or a boat. Or the backseat of a car."

"That's... completely absurd!"

"Yes," Clovis agreed, giving him a bright smile. "Imagine, some have been known to do nothing more than hold hands all day!"

"Hold... hands?" Of course Lelouch had seen people do it before, but as he tried to picture himself spending several hours holding Suzaku's hand, the concept just seemed incredibly ridiculous to him.

"Don't look like that. It's not a requirement. Just go and amuse yourselves, will you?"

A part of Lelouch wanted to snort derisively and tell his brother to go himself if he was that desperate. Another part of him, though, was strangely intrigued by the prospect. He glanced at the tickets.

And paused. "You called it _Clovis Land_?"

"Yes. Doesn't it sound dignified?"

"It sounds like the work of a self-loving idiot whose supposed creativity only exists in his own head. I can't believe you criticized me for choosing _Zero_."

Clovis nodded pensively. "True, I have wronged you – I can see that now. Obviously, you couldn't have picked 'Clovis', so everything else just had to pale in comparison. I apologize for what I said back then. It was highly insensitive of me."

"...Just shut up."

x x x

"Lelouch, that's..."

"You're not going to tell me you have to work, are you?"

"No," Suzaku said, shaking his head as he continued to stare perplexedly at the amusement park ticket. "I actually would have had to, but it suddenly got canceled."

_What a coincidence_, Lelouch thought dryly. Clovis was so pathetically obvious. "You're free, then?"

"Yes. But... shouldn't you go with Nunnally?"

"She already went with Euphie to the opening ceremony. I was busy, though." He snorted. "Clovis is handing these things out like candy. I wouldn't be surprised if he sent a set to Lloyd and Cecile, as well."

Suzaku smiled. "Prince Clovis is very considerate, isn't he?"

"Well, I suppose that's one way of putting it." The other, more accurate one being 'an obnoxious, meddling idiot who doesn't know how to leave people in peace'. "Let's meet in an hour at the gate, then. I have to tell Nunnally and grab some things... or do you want to come along?"

"No. Lloyd won't care, but I should probably let Miss Cecile know."

Lelouch nodded. "All right, then."

x x x

"...Why do you keep glancing at my hand?"

"No reason," Lelouch quickly said, looking around frantically for a distraction. "Why don't we get some ice-cream?"

"I thought you don't like sticky things?"

"Ice-cream only becomes sticky if you don't know how to eat it correctly."

Suzaku smiled. "I see."

x x x

Lelouch cursed and shifted the cone to his left hand, watching the pink fluid trail down his index finger.

This was Suzaku's fault - no normal person ate their ice-cream like that!

"Are you all right?" his friend asked, concerned until he noticed what the problem was. He seemed distinctly amused then, but rummaged through his pockets in what Lelouch guessed was the search for a handkerchief. After a while, he gave up. "Sorry, I forgot the tissues in my other jacket." He grasped Lelouch's wrist. "Wait a second."

Suzaku stepped closer, lifted his hand and... Lelouch stared. He couldn't be _serious_!

But he was.

Suzaku slowly took his finger into his mouth and did exactly what had caused Lelouch to become inattentive in the first place, only this time, he couldn't only observe that dexterous tongue, but was quite literally witnessing its effects first hand. And if the resulting sensation wasn't bad enough on its own, the memories involving body paint that were suddenly flooding his mind certainly did the trick.

Lelouch pulled his hand away. "Suzaku!" he hissed. "We're in public!

Suzaku looked at him in confusion at first, but then he finally seemed to get it. "Oh," he said, grinning sheepishly. "Sorry."

Lelouch huffed.

x x x

There was no sex on the Ferris wheel.

.

"That's strange... have you lost weight?"

"Suzaku."

"What?"

"You're feeling up the skeleton."

"Oh."

.

…Only in the haunted house.

x x x

"Do you think... do you think it could happen again?"

Clovis turned to Euphie, confused. "What?"

"Lelouch and Suzaku," she explained. "Working together."

"Well," Clovis began, "I certainly hope so. Lelouch's constant brooding was beginning to get annoying." He kept quiet for a few seconds before reluctantly adding, "It doesn't look like Kururugi is planning to switch sides any time soon, though."

Another silence. Finally, his sister asked, "Isn't there any other way?"

There was something strange in Euphie's voice. "What do you mean?"

"I just thought... wouldn't it be great if things could get back to the way they used to be? If Area 11 became peaceful, Lelouch and Nunnally could just stay here and be happy, like before. He and Suzaku wouldn't have to fight, either – they could work together to make things better for everyone."

"It's a nice dream," Clovis said.

Euphie didn't reply, and Clovis decided to leave her to her musings. It must be hard for her – having to watch those whose smiles meant so much to her bring pain upon themselves and not see any way to stop them.

Later, when he realized how gravely he had underestimated her, he would look back on this moment in time and wonder if things would have gone differently if he hadn't failed to understand the most essential thing about his sister.

x x x

"The Purist Faction is being unusually quiet," Lelouch noted. "They haven't even complained about Suzaku recently. You should keep an eye on them – even if they are still recovering from the incident at Narita, I expected them to at least try and bring the matter to Cornelia's attention while she is here. They might be planning something."

"I don't think so."

Lelouch blinked, taken aback by the certainty in his brother's voice. "And why is that?"

"Because I have reason to believe that their motivation for remaining silent is a bit more, ah, _personal_ than that."

"...What did you do?"

"Well... I might have slept with Kewell. And Morgan. And then there was this really cute-"

"Are you telling me you go _whoring_ now?"

Clovis gave a self-satisfied little smile. "It was a very _subtle_ kind of whoring, if I may say so myself." He twirled a strand of his hair. "It was also rather fun."

"You're hopeless."

"M-hm. You should be nice to me, or I might wake up one day with the irresistible urge to seduce your followers. After making them fall madly in love with me, I will turn them into an army dedicated to protecting the artistic wonders of this world from unappreciative philistines like you, and found a new superpower all on my own."

Lelouch snorted. "I'd like to see you try."

"Voyeurism? Now that's a new one. Do you just like watching or do you also enjoy being watched?"

"I prefer watching," Lelouch replied without missing a beat. "It'd be interesting to see whether Kallen would manage to castrate you before you get shot by Tamaki."

"Kallen? Now where have I heard that before..."

"Kallen Stadtfeld. She's on the student council."

"Wait," Clovis said. "Are you telling me the heiress of the Stadtfeld family is a terrorist?"

"I am. So when you hold that ridiculous ball of yours, you might want to make sure you don't run into her in some dark corridor. Not that I'd mind being rid of you, but the last thing I need is to draw the attention of the media by having to attend a funeral. I'd pretend to be afflicted with something, but I have a feeling Nunnally would want to be present – she's too charitable for her own good."

As always, Clovis seemed to have heard something completely different from what he had said. "Worried about me? Aw, you're such a sweetheart! I promise to be extra careful."

"...Did you just call me _sweetheart_?"

"You don't like it? Hm... how about darling, then?"

"No."

"Honey-pie?"

"I'm full, thank you."

"Sparky?"

"That _literally_ sounds like a pet name."

"Sunshine?"

"..."

"You're right, that was one step away from an oxymoron. Sexy kitten?"

"Sexy ki-... how the hell do you come up with this stuff?"

Clovis shrugged. "Practice. Usually, I'd go for _sex kitten_, but, well, we scratched 'sunshine' off the list for a reason."

"If you ever call me 'sexy kitten', I swear your life is going to be solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short."

"Why are you randomly quoting things now?"

"I have my reasons."

"Well, that's reassuring, " Clovis said. "I was going to suggest _gorgeous_, but I'd only end up confusing the two of us, so I suppose I'll just stick with smart-ass. It usually gets the point across pretty well."

"If anyone were to confuse me with you, they would not live to regret their folly, so that's probably a wise decision for someone who has the intellect of a horny ape on booze."

"Is that how you learn to speak at an exclusive private school? That's kind of... fascinating. Maybe I did miss out on something, after all. Oh well. Help me with these documents?"

x x x

Lelouch had known that Clovis' unusual interest in paperwork wasn't likely to last. He had, however, not counted on his brother's interest _shifting_.

"You do realize that Cornelia could come in any second?" Lelouch asked when Clovis broke the kiss and pushed him against the wall. Having Milly walk in on him and Suzaku had been bad enough.

Clovis paused, humming. "You think making out in the governor's office would count as improper conduct?"

"That, too."

"So..." Clovis tilted his head curiously. "You want to stop here?"

"I didn't say that."

"Oh?" His brother smiled slyly and leaned forward again, this time to assault his earlobe. "Now that's interesting. Are you _sure_ you prefer watching? Maybe it excites you," he breathed, "the thought that she could walk in and see you like this any second."

"Actually, I was going to suggest you go and lock the door," Lelouch said, voice almost level even as a pleasant shiver ran down his spine.

"But I'd have to stop doing _this_-" Lelouch gasped slightly as his brother's lower body moved against his, "-for that, wouldn't I?"

"I see the problem," Lelouch admitted. "However, if you chose not to comply, I'd have to do _this_."

Clovis yelped. "Not again! What did my hair ever do to you?"

"It offends me just by existing – like its owner. Now go lock the room before I decide paying Suzaku a visit would be faster."

Clovis gaped. "You're threatening to _replace_ me?"

"Don't flatter yourself," Lelouch said, smirking. "You _are_ the replacement, and I have to say, you leave a lot to be desired." Clovis just kept gaping. "Now? I'm waiting."

"I swear," Clovis said as he finally walked over to the door and did as asked, "if not for my boundless generosity and Kururugi's unnatural placidity, you'd never get laid in your life."

"I don't know. People are desperate enough to put up with _you_, after all."

"Oh, quiet."

And they resumed where they'd left off.

x x x

Sadly, they had to stop only ten minutes later, when a very much irritated Cornelia demanded to be let into the room.

As Lelouch scrambled for his shirt, Clovis hastily brushed his hair with his fingers. His little brother could claim otherwise all he wanted - he obviously nurtured a grudge against those beautiful golden locks of his.

x x x

"Why does Cornelia keep giving me odd looks?"

"It was to be expected. She _does_ think you have the hots for Guilford, after all."

"She _what_?"

Clovis shrugged. "What better way to explain a teenager's strange behavior than hormone-induced jealousy? You never said I was to solve the problem in a manner that would leave you with your dignity intact. Not that there's anything unsavory about wanting to get it on with Guilford, of course..."

"What's _wrong_ with you?"

"It's the glasses," Clovis said and nodded to himself. "Definitely the glasses."

"Glasses? What do glasses have to do with anything? "

"Though I have to say," Clovis continued as if he hadn't heard him, "that _hair_... and then there's his voice, oh my. Whenever he says 'Princess Cornelia', it sounds like he's about to-"

"Ugh! Talking to you is like talking to C.C. early in the morning, only instead of pizza, it's-" Lelouch made an elaborate gesture with his hand.

"You can say it, you know? I promise I won't giggle." A pause. "Wait, did you just compare me to-" a vague wave- "_her_?"

"You can say her name, you know?" Lelouch mimicked. "I promise she won't appear out of thin air."

"I'd rather not take the chance."

"Then you know how I feel."

"Don't equate the beautiful art that is sex to her-whose-name-must-not-be-spoken-lest-she-stares-us-all-to-death. It's unappetizing."

"All the better. That's your, what, fifth of these chocolate muffins already? It's no wonder no one wants to see you in a bathing suit. Why can't you eat something normal, at least?"

The muffin stopped half-way to Clovis' mouth. "Did you just call me fat?"

"You started it, didn't you? If even you have noticed as much, you can hardly blame me for stating the truth."

Slack-jawed, Clovis kept staring at him for a few seconds longer. Then he shrugged, finished the muffin in two bites and grabbed another one. "I'm fat and gorgeous, then. That's fine. Next time you go looking for ways to excuse your attraction to Schneizel, try to pick something a little less unbelievable than supposed flaws in my appearance."

"_What?_"

x x x

"I'm _not_ going to have sex with Schneizel!"

Andreas Darlton paused.

Then he slowly turned around, vowing to walk away from that door and never look back.

.

.

**End of Chapter**

* * *

I think Darlton needs a cookie now.

The idea of Clovis and Lelouch having fun with body paint has been stuck in my brain for some time now, planted there over a year ago by the original requester. The scene actually played out very differently in my head, but then Lelouch and Clovis decided to be even more random than usually and things didn't exactly go as planned - not that I'm complaining.

The person Lelouch is quoting when he threatens that Clovis's life could turn out to be "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short" is Hobbes, who uses those words to describe the "natural condition of mankind". No idea how well-known that line is or isn't, so I thought I'd explain in case anyone was curious. Oh, and there were some references to Stage 0.884! (Then again, there always are. Awesome Clovis SD is awesome!)

So... muffins, anyone?


End file.
